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/VVANUAL 

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WEEDS 

ADA 
GEORGIA 




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THE RUliAL MANUALS P. 
L-H-BAILEY- Editor "' 




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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



Ubc IRural /IDanuals 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 



A MANUAL OF WEEDS 







Ube IRural /iDanuals 








Edited by L. H. BAILEY 








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Manual 


OF 


Gardening — Bailey 




Manual 


OF 


Farm Animals — Harper 




Farm and 


Garden Rule-Book — Bailey 




Manual 


OF Fruit Insects — Slingerland 


and 


Crosby 






Manual 


OF 


Weeds — Georgia 




Manual 


OF 


Home-Making — hi preparation 




Manual 


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Cultivated Plants — In preparation 




TOOLS FOK DESTROYING WEEDS 

Broad-bladed Hoe. 2. Warren Pattern Garden Hoe. 3. Grubbing Hoe. 4. Rake. 
5. Weeding Hoe. 6, 7. 11. Hand Weeders. 8 Spading Fork. 9. Root-digger. 10. Spud. 
12. Spade. 13. Weeding Harrow witii shafts and teeth adjustable. 14. Cultivating 
Hoe. 15. Plow. 16. Cultivator, with adjustable blades of different size. 17. WheelHoe. 



A MANUAL OF WEEDS 



WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL OF THE MOST PERNI- 
CIOUS AND TROUBLESOME PLANTS IN THE UNITED 
STATES AND CANADA, THEIR HABITS OF GROWTH 
AND DISTRIBUTION, WITH METHODS OF CONTROL 



BY 



ADA E. GEORGIA 

ASSISTANT IN THE FARM COURSE, NEW YORK STATE COLLEGE 
OF AGRICULTURE, CORNELL UNIVERSITY 



WITH 385 ILLUSTRATIONS 
BY 

F. SCHUYLEK MATHEWS 

AUTHOR OF "field BOOK OF AMERICAN WILD FLOWERS' 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
1914 

All rights reser"ved 



SB 



6\\ 



COPTBIGHT, 1914, 

By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. 

Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1914. 



J. S. Gushing Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 

OCT 15 1914 

' ©CI.A387025 



Zo 

THE REVERED MEMORY OF 
JOHN WALTON SPENCER 

MY EMPLOYER, TEACHER, AND FRIEND, TO 

WHOSE FIRST SUGGESTION 

AND ENCOURAGEMENT THE BEGINNING OF 

THIS BOOK IS DUE 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Preface ix 

What is a Weed? 1 

Financial Loss due to Weeds 6 

Dissemination of Weeds 9 

Chemical Herbicides 13 

Descriptive List and Means of Control .... 17 

Bibliography 559 

List of Plants Distinctly Poisonous or Mechanically 

Harmful to Animal Life 563 

Glossary 565 

INDEX 571 



PREFACE 

Nature is the great farmer. Continually she sows and reaps, 
making all the forces of the universe her tools and helpers. The 
sun's rays, wind, rain, frost and snow, insects and birds, animals 
small and great, even to the humble burrowing worms of the earth, 
all work mightily for her and a harvest of some kind is absolutely 
sure. And to the people who must wrest a living from the soil, not 
only for themselves but for all mankind besides, it must seem that 
Nature's favorites are the hardy, aggressive, and often useless and 
harmful plants which they have named weeds. 

Yet, when man interferes with the Great Mother's plans and 
insists that the crops shall be only such as may benefit and enrich 
himself, she seems to yield a willing obedience, and under his guid- 
ance does immensely better work than when uncontrolled. But 
Dame Nature is an " eye-servant" ; only by the sternest determina- 
tion and the most unrelaxing vigilance can her fellow-worker subdue 
the earth to his will and fulfill the destiny foreshadowed in that 
primal blessing, so sadly disguised and misnamed, when the first 
man was told, " Cursed is the ground for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt 
thou eat of it all the days of thy hfe ; thorns also and thistles shall 
it bring forth to thee ; and thou shalt eat of the herb of the field." 
A stern decree. But the civilization of the peoples of the earth is 
measured by the forward state of their agriculture ; and agriculture 
in its simplest terms is the compelling of the soil to yield only such 
products as shall conduce to the welfare of the people who live upon 
it. It resolves itself into a contest with nature as to what plants 
shall be permitted to grow, and the discovery of the easiest, surest, 
and most economical means of securing a victory in the strife. 

In agriculture, as in every field of labor, modern invention and 
discovery have greatly multiplied the power and efficiency of each 
pair of human hands ; but still in this contest with nature and 
the growing plants, it frequently happens that those hands are 

ix 



X PREFACE 

the only tools which can be used effectively — as the writer knows 
by many years of hard practical experience, both in garden and 
in field. Again, some simple expedient of little cost and easy 
application, may do the work of many hands and increase by 
many fold the soil's return for the labor. A wider acquaintance 
with such methods of control seems desirable and therefore the 
writer has endeavored to bring together, so far as could be learned, 
the knowledge gained by much study and careful experiment in 
many different parts of the country by earnest and thought- 
ful workers. There is a great dearth of books on this most im- 
portant subject, but such as could be obtained have been diligently 
studied. The Bibliography on page 559 will indicate the writer's 
debt in this regard. Many files of agricultural periodicals have 
been consulted and most grateful acknowledgment is made for 
assistance received from the publications of the Department of 
Agriculture at Washington, and to the Agricultural Experiment 
Station Bulletins of the various states and of the Canadian 
Provinces. 

In nomenclature and order of classification the writer has fol- 
lowed Gray's New Manual of Botany, seventh edition, 1908. For 
plants outside of the geographic limits included in that book, 
Coulter and Nelson's New Manual of Rocky Mountain Botany, and 
W. L. Jepson's Flora of Western Middle California, have been con- 
sulted. For range, season of bloom and fruit, and much other very 
important and necessary information, most invaluable help has 
been obtained from the New Illustrated Flora of the Northern 
United States and Canada, by Britton and Brown, and the revised 
Flora of the Southeastern United States, by Dr. J. K. Small. 
Statements concerning plants that are poisonous or otherwise harm- 
ful to health have been made on authority of publications issued by 
the United States Department of Agriculture. Dr. L. H. Pammel's 
Manual of Poisonous Plants has also been a helpful reference. 
Mention is made of the fact that some weeds are medicinally valu- 
able, and may occasionally be made to pay for the cost of their 
extermination. The writer's authority for prices and modes of 
preparation has been the interesting series of bulletins prepared by 
Miss Alice Henkel, Assistant, Drug-Plant Investigations, at the 
Bureau of Plant Industry at Washington. 



PREFACE xi 

The writer desires to express most grateful acknowledgment to 
Professor James G. Needham for helpful suggestions as to the 
plan of the book and reading of the manuscript; to Professor 
Karl M. Wiegand for reading, criticism, and amendment of the text 
while in proof; and to Miss Lela A. Gross of the Editorial De- 
partment of the New York State Agricultural College for reading 
the proof. 

The writer has attempted — not very successfully — to make the 
terms of the descriptive text somewhat less technical and easier 
for the general reader to understand than that of the botanies ; but 
one who makes even a modest effort in that direction soon realizes 
the difficulties, for, after all, technical terms are exact, and no 
paraphrase, however carefully defined, can be made so fit. " Seeds " 
are often mentioned by that term, because it is the only one' used 
by the seed merchant and the farmer, to whom, also, any capsular 
fruit is likely to be a "pod." Of the common names given, the 
writer has in every case selected for a heading the one considered to 
be in widest and most common use for the plant described. 

A few paragraphs of the introductory chapters are rearranged 
from some lessons about weeds which were furnished by the writer 
for the Leaflets of the Home Nature-Study Course, while serving as 
Assistant in the Bureau of Nature-Study at Cornell University. 
These leaflets, however, are now out of print. To make a book 
that would be helpful to any one who loves and grows plants, and 
must combat weeds in order to help them to grow, has been for 
many years the writer's strongest wish. In the hope that it may 
be one of the few wishes that " come true," this book is given to the 
public. 

ADA E. GEORGIA. 

Ithaca, New York, 
July, 1914. 



A MAW^UAL OF WEEDS 



WHAT IS A WEED? 

A WEED is a plant that is growing where it is desired that some- 
thing else shall grow. It follows that a plant may be a weed in 
some places and not in others. Cockle in the wheat fields is most 
undesirable; New England Asters and Black-eyed Susans are 
detrimental when growing in the meadow ; but all are graceful and 
beautiful plants, and, growing in a protected flower garden, would 
be a feast to color-loving eyes. It is well that most pernicious 
plants have little beauty to make them desired in the posy beds of 
the farm home, for, though it is necessary to label some bad weeds 
as "escapes from cultivation," they are not numerous nor among 
the most evil of their kind. 

Each weed has its own way of winning in its struggle with the 
farmer's crops and its habits must be learned in order to know how 
to get the better of it. This can be done only by a study of the life 
history of the species. According to their nature, different means 
of extermination must be practiced, always remembering that all 
living things are tender and die most easily when they are young; 
and also that in every case the chief end is to prevent reproduction 
of kind. 

Weeds, like all other plants, may be classified according to the 
length of time they live : as annual, surviving the winter only in the 
seed ; as biennial, storing in fleshy root or broad green leafy rosette 
the food drawn from the soil and air during the first season, to per- 
fect the fruitage in the second year; and as perennial, surviving 
through many seasons and springing up to spread abroad their kind 
and pester the land year after year, unless destroyed "root and 
branch." Purslane and the common Ragweed are good examples 
B 1 



2 A MANUAL OF WEEDS 

of the first class, Burdock and Wild Carrot of the second, and Field 
Sorrel and Canada Thistle of the third. Some plants that round 
their Hfe-cycle in a year are known as "winter annuals" ; the seeds 
that have matured during the summer germinating in the fall, mak- 
ing a certain growth before the closing in of winter, and completing 
their development in the next summer. To this class belong the 
hated Penny Cress, or French weed, the Corn Cockle, and the Field 
Gromwell or Wheat-thief. Obviously, the best time to compass 
their destruction is in the spring, before they can develop fruiting 
stems. Spring plowing or harrowing is of course in order, but it is 
with such plants as these that the newer method of killing with a 
chemical spray, or herbicide, is most successful, particularly when 
they appear in grain fields. The grains are resistant to injury from 
the spray, for, being " center growers," they make a swift recovery 
from the slight harm received on outside sheath-leaves, while the 
tender, outspread foliage of the weed seedlings is often totally 
destroyed. 

For biennials, also, the one sure means of destruction is prevention 
of seeding. Where plowing out is impracticable, frequent cutting 
must be practiced, in the first season spudding out or cutting off 
the rosettes, or crown leaves, and in the second season mowing 
off the flowering stems before the formation of seed. 

Perennial weeds are by far the hardest to fight, sometimes requir- 
ing the cultivation of special hoed crops in order to insure their 
complete eradication. The plowing and harrowing given to ordi- 
nary field crops often only stimulate the growth of these pernicious 
plants by breaking or cutting the long-lived underground stems and 
inducing them to send up new shoots. It should be remembered 
that their food reserves are in fleshy or woody roots, underground 
stems, bulbs, or tubers, and that the growth above ground never 
seems to exhaust these hidden stores of nourishment. However, 
there is a time when they are most vulnerable to attack, and it is 
just at that stage of growth when flowering stems are nearing full 
size, but before the formation of seed. They should then be plowed 
down, or, if too tall for that, first mowed and then plowed under. 
Any and every plant, even the sturdiest tree, must die if kept de- 
prived of leaves during the growing season ; for it is in these green 
laboratories that the food gathered from soil and air is so changed 



WHA T IS A WEED ? 3 

and assimilated as to become available for the making of new plant 
substance. Without leaf-growth the roots must die. 

General jprijiciples 

1. Allow no weeds to ripen seeds. 

2. Kill while in the seedling stage if possible, for then the weeds 
die most easily and in the greatest numbers. 

3. Induce autumn germination of the seeds of annuals by sur- 
face cultivation of fields after harvest. Many weeds are thus 
winter-killed before seeds can be produced. Following spring cul- 
tivation will rid the ground of a second crop of seedlings and leave 
the soil comparatively free of this class of plants. 

4. Never plow under weeds bearing mature seeds. Burn them. 
For seeds of many weeds, particularly of some of the most trouble- 
some annuals, have great vitality and may lie dormant in the soil 
for long periods, to germinate when brought to the surface by future 
cultivation. It is an old saying that "One year's seeding means 
seven years' weeding," but it may be much more than that. Mrs. 
Thaxter wrote that in her Island Garden she destroyed seedlings 
of Common Dodder every season for twenty years after the first 
seeding. Professor Beal's experiments demonstrated that the 
seeds of Charlock and Purslane will germinate after lying for thirty 
years in the soil, and it is said that the seeds of the Indian Mallow 
or Butterprint Weed have survived for more than fifty years, 
dormant but ready. 

5. Thoroughly compost all stable manures that are known to 
contain the seeds of noxious weeds. Some few hard-coated seeds 
there may be which are able to survive the heat and ferment of the 
compost heap. Concerning this, the Iowa State Experiment 
Station, under the direction of Professor L. H. Pammel, has carried 
out a series of valuable experiments. Collections of various weed- 
seeds were made and placed in gauze bags in the heart of fermenting 
compost heaps for periods varying from five weeks to six months. 
The result proved that almost all seeds so treated were thoroughly 
rotted and their vitality was destroyed. The process is a costly one, 
in that the fermentation which kills the life-germs in the seeds also 
deprives the manure of some of its most useful properties, par- 
ticularly of nitrogen, its most valuable constituent. But to sow 



4 A MANUAL OF WEEDS 

weed-seeds broadcast, with a fertilizer to help them to grow, is still 
more expensive. One advantage of feeding hay from clean mead- 
ows and bedding the farm animals on straw from clean grain fields, 
is that stable manure may then be used as fast as it is produced, 
without loss of much of its fertilizing power from leaching and 
fermentation or expense from the necessary twice handling. 

6. Sow clean seed; as near to perfectly clean as it is possible to 
make it. A thousand Clover seeds are but a small handful and will 
not suffice to plant a square rod of ground. If, then, the seeds of 
Dodder are but one to a thousand in a field of Clover, the crop is 
in danger of being ruined, and the land of being infested for a num- 
ber of years with one of the worst of noxious weeds. Could the 
American farmer once be strongly convinced of the importance of 
this matter of sowing only the purest seed obtainable, the worst 
stronghold of the weed-army against which he fights would be con- 
quered. All purchased seeds should be accepted only on a guaranty, 
and even then should be examined with care. It was undoubtedly 
by this agency that most of the foreign weeds which harass the land 
were brought to our shores and it is by this means that most of our 
home-grown pests are carried about and introduced in sections not 
before troubled by them. Only the best seed is good enough to 
plant, and the cheapest brand in the market is by far the most 
costly. The expense of preparing the land for a crop is equal, but 
the cost of its cultivation and care is much increased and the 
returns are greatly lessened where any considerable proportion of 
the seed sown produces worthless or aggressively pernicious plants. 

7. Be on the watch for weeds new to the locality, and never trust 
to the harmlessness of such strangers. Had a few Dakota farmers 
been alive to the danger when the first Russian Thistles appeared in 
their flax-fields, the spread of that most pernicious plant might 
have been prevented, to the great advantage of large areas of the 
country. One of the services required by the State from each 
staff of Experiment Station workers is the identification of weed- 
seeds in samples of seeds submitted and the proportion of such 
impurities. Unknown plants may also be sent to the Stations for 
name and statement of qualities, and every farmer has the right 
of appeal to the Agricultural Department of his State for assistance 
in such matters. 



WHA T IS A WEED ? 5 

8. Call in the aid of grazing animals, particularly sheep. Turn- 
ing them into mutton and wool is a very profitable way of fighting 
weeds. In stubbles where a young and succulent growth of such 
plants usually springs up after harvest, and in old pastures where the 
more dainty neat cattle have selected the plants that they liked best 
and left the weeds to seed, sheep may be turned in and by their close 
cropping so shear down the leaf-growth as to cause many very 
undesirable plants to be root-smothered to death. 

9. Practice rotation of crops. Continued growing of one crop 
not only exhausts the soil but serves to thoroughly infest it with 
the weeds that most commonly grow with that crop. Different 
plants take food from the soil in different amounts and proportions, 
and a proper rotation must be decided by conditions of soil and 
climate. It should be a systematic alternation on each field of the 
three general classes of field crops : grain crops, cultivated crops, 
and grass crops, including the clovers. The farmer whose scheme 
of rotation is mainly intent on the improvement of the land and 
not on his immediate profit, will, in the end, make the most money 
and have the least difficulty in suppressing the weeds. Any rota- 
tion should put much stress upon a cleansing crop, requiring such 
close care in cultivation as to allow no opportunity for weeds to 
grow. This has fully as important a place in the series as the crops 
grown solely for their money value, or as the manurial or feeding 
crop which is intended to return some of the lost fertility to the soil. 

10. More wide-reaching and uniform laws, dealing with the con- 
trol and eradication of weed plagues, should be in force. Many 
weeds are in the noxious class because they are so well equipped 
with the means of spreading their kind over large sections of the 
country. This quality increases the difficulty and expense of their 
extermination, and it should interest the entire community as well 
as the individual. If there are weed-laws already on the statute 
books, they should be made effective. If there are none, then 
persistent agitation for the enactment of such laws should be carried 
on by the persons who are most interested and who would be most 
benefited by their enforcement ; namely, the farmers of the com- 
munity. 



FINANCIAL LOSS DUE TO WEEDS 

Weeds cause a direct money loss to the farmer and to the nation. 
In the first place, the presence of weeds in such abundance as to 
attract notice, reduces the selling value of the land. A prospective 
purchaser who sees meadows thickly spangled with Daisies and 
Buttercups or looks over fields golden-yellow with Mustard, red 
with Sorrel, or white with the lace-like bloom of Wild Carrot, 
mentally subtracts the cost of cleaning the soil of these pests when 
estimating his offering price. And this is as it should be ; for before 
a profitable crop could be obtained from such ground, much careful 
thought and expensive labor must go to the subjugation of its 
enemies ; and the cost should very properly be borne by the neglect- 
ful husbandman who first allowed his land to be so abused. Rank 
growth of weeds may indicate fertility of the soil, and often the 
fitness of the ground for particular crops may be judged by the kinds 
of weeds found growing thereon ; but, nevertheless, buyers are 
prejudiced and would-be sellers must submit to the embarrassment 
of debased .values when land is infested to any considerable extent 
by these pernicious plants. 

Weeds reduce the crop yield. It is this crop loss that is most con- 
sidered when estimating the damage suffered from weeds. All 
living plants must have a certain amount of space for the circulation 
of air and moisture and to be open to the life-giving warmth and 
light of the sun. When crowded, even among themselves, they 
cannot thrive ; and if this needed space is to any extent occupied 
by weeds, the returns from the crop must be correspondingly less. 
These obnoxious neighbors also steal from the soil a large share of 
the food and drink belonging to the rightful tenants of the ground. 
The robbery of soil moisture is one of the chief forms of injury. 
Weeds are notoriously more resistant to drought, more rapid of 
growth, more sturdy of habit, and more tenacious of life than the 
cultivated plants that they "shade down" or "starve out." It 

6 



FINANCIAL LOSS DUE TO WEEDS 7 

has been estimated by the United States Department of Agricul- 
ture that the average yearly loss due to weeds in the crop and 
meadow lands of the country is about a dollar an acre. 

The presence of w^eeds not only decreases the yield, but also 
increases the expense of harvesting a crop. A field betangled with 
Bindweed or overgrown with the strong woody stems of Kinghead 
and Thistle enforces extra labor of draft-horses and extra wear of 
farm machinery, even sometimes compelling the task to be done by 
hand work — the most expensive form of labor in every occupation. 
Also, the labor and consequent cost of threshing and cleaning the 
seed from a weedy and inferior crop is much greater than for a 
heavier crop that is clean and thrifty. 

The market value of the crop is reduced. A report from the 
Grain Inspection Department of the state of Minnesota shows the 
average dockage on wheat for two years to be nineteen ounces 
to the bushel, Minnesota produces yearly more than two hundred 
million bushels of small grain. A dockage of but one pound to the 
bushel means a loss of over two hundred million pounds, and if the 
money value be calculated at no more than a cent a pound it is two 
million dollars yearly ; and this loss is in addition to decrease of 
yield and increased cost of harvest. 

Some weeds serve as host plants for injurious fungi ; and rust, 
smut, and mildew may be transferred from them to the useful 
crops. For example, the wild Barberry harbors the wheat-rust in 
one of its stages, and the fungus that causes the " club-root disease" 
of cabbage finds a host in several weeds of the Mustard Family. 
Weeds serve too as nurseries and feeding grounds for injurious 
insects. Wild relatives of the Potato, such as Ground Cherry and 
Horse Nettle, have been known to harbor the Potato Stalk-borer 
through the winter when all the ruined stems of the cultivated 
crop had been carefully burned in order to hinder its appearance 
another season. Weedy, stubbles are often a breeding ground for 
cut-worms, flea-beetles, and other insect plagues. 

Further, much serious loss is caused by a very bad class of 
weeds, possessed of other and much worse qualities than their mere 
presence where they are not wanted. Some, like the Death Camas 
and the Water Hemlock, or Cowbane, are poisonous, and cattle 
and sheep die from eating their young leaves or juicy tubers ; 



8 A MANUAL OF WEEDS 

even loss of human life is sometimes due to the deadly poison of the 
Hemlock, through the mistaking of its tuberous roots for harmless 
artichokes. In the Great Plains Region, horses and cattle are 
killed or made worthless by the '* Loco Weeds." Some wild grasses, 
such as the Squirrel-tail Grass, or Wild Barley, and the Porcupine 
Grass, cause injury to the animals that graze on them by the 
lodgment of their barbed awns in the lining of mouth, throat, and 
stomach, causing painful inflammation, ulceration, and death. 
Milk, butter, and cheese are rendered unmarketable by the taint of 
Wild Onion or Garlic and the bitter Mustards. Cockles "cut the 
grade" of the wheat and spoil the flour if ground with it. Tick- 
seeds and burs yearly lessen the value of the wool-clip from the 
farmer's flocks. Altogether, the losses sustained by the American 
farmer from this cause are greater than he suspects or would believe. 
A needless loss, too ; for there is no weed so vicious that it cannot 
be subdued, with profit to the owner of the soil, if its habits are 
well understood and sufficient determination goes to the battle. 

But nothing in the world is so bad as to be entirely evil. It is 
only fair to admit that weeds do sometimes perform useful services 
to the land. Their presence compels tillage, and the most profitable 
farming is that which keeps the ground well tilled. They form the 
greater part of the covering which Nature promptly spreads over 
soil that the shiftless cultivator has left bare and neglected, keeping 
it from being blown about by winds, washed away by flood or rain, 
or baked into a barren desert by the sun. And such a weed- 
blanket, if turned under the ground in preparing it for a better crop, 
will supply the soil with green manure or humus, which it very much 
needs. It is not the best type of feeding crop for the land, but it is 
better than none. It is well that Nature is thus able to redeem the 
sins of slothful and selfish men, but her processes are too slow. The 
world grows no larger and its population increases very fast. The 
surest hope of its continued comfort and prosperity lies in better 
husbandry. 



DISSEMINATION OF WEEDS 

Most various are the ways and most interesting are the natural 
mechanical appliances by which plant offspring are helped to leave 
the place of their birth and " strike out in the world for themselves." 
All seeds are great travelers ; they are carried by wind and water, 
by wild and domesticated animals, and by birds ; they journey 
by highway and railroad and are parts of steamship cargoes. By 
far the worst culprit of all, in the distribution of seeds of the kind 
of plants most adverse to his prosperity, is the farmer himself. 

Wind-carried seeds are of many kinds. Some, like the Dandelion, 
Milkweeds, and Thistles, and the pernicious Orange Hawkweed, are 
made buoyant by a parachute of fine, downy plumes on which they 
are lifted and wafted away on even the gentlest breeze. In other 
cases, hke those of Tumbling Mustard and Russian Thistle, the 
entire plant is broken off at its base or its shallow roots are wrenched 
from the soil, and it is sent rolling and tumbling along the ground, 
shaking out its seeds as it goes. Over the wide levels of the prairie 
states these weeds travel far, but they are not so much to be dreaded 
in the much-fenced and uneven country of the East. The encrust- 
ing of snow in winter makes a smooth surface over which many 
seeds may be blown abroad that would not otherwise be able to 
get far away from their parent plant. Some seeds, like the Docks, 
have corky, membranous wings which not only help to upbear 
them on the wind but also cause them to float on water. Some 
plants, like the Oxalis, or Ladies' Sorrel, and the Crane's-bill, 
are furnished with spring guns which shoot the seeds to some 
distance. 

Many very "pesky" weeds are so because their seeds are gifted 
by nature with such a marvelous variety of teeth, hooks, and barbs, 
by which they are able to catch and cling to the fur or wool of 
animals and to the clothing of passers-by. Burdocks and Cockle- 
burs, Beggarlice, and the Pitchfork Weed, or Devil's Bootjack, are 

9 



10 A MANUAL OF WEEDS 

a few of the many that are provided with this means of helping 
themselves to "fresh fields and pastures new." 

Birds may undoubtedly be blamed for the appearance of some 
weeds in new locations, particularly when they are found springing 
up along telegraph lines or fences. But birds aid the farmer far 
more as weed destroyers than they do him injury as weed dis- 
seminators. Neglected roadsides and lanes ; old pastures where the 
grazing animals have persistently passed by the plants that they 
did not like ; stubbles where weeds have been permitted to spring 
up and mature seed after harvest ; borders of fields and meadows 
and other waste places of the land, — all are most industriously 
gleaned throughout the summer, autumn, and winter months by 
seed-eating birds. Birds have keen appetites and swift digestion. 
It is safe to say that each Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, or Snow Bunt- 
ing needs at least a quarter-ounce of food daily to sustain life ; and 
if the number of these feathered benefactors average no more than 
a dozen to the square mile, in the aggregate the amount of noxious 
stuff disposed of would reach many tons. The few seeds that are 
dropped in the culling of these bird meals or that pass uninjured 
through the digestive tract are of small account when compared to 
so great a service. 

The spreading of stable manure before decomposition is a very 
common source of weed infestation ; and the statement is here 
repeated that it is better to lose a large part of its fertilizing quality 
by composting all such material, than to ensure future loss and need- 
less labor by such soil contamination. 

One place where weeds are too frequently neglected is on land 
belonging to the community at large. Along roads, canals, and 
other public places they are allowed to bloom and mature their 
seeds, becoming a menace to all near-by property, because " what is 
everybody's business is nobody's business." The public sees the 
wisdom and economy of supporting Game Commissioners in every 
county ; and no less wise an outlay would be the appointment of 
County Weed Commissioners, to whom should be entrusted the 
supervision, not only of the public domain, but also of individual 
holdings which, through neglect, might become a menace to the 
community. The most ignorant and careless cultivator of the land 
is often the most easy to offend, and complaint and correction, as 



DISSEMINATION OF WEEDS 11 

well as instruction in better methods, would be more cordially 
received from such an accredited officer than from aggrieved neigh- 
bors. 

But the most prolific source of weed infestation in all parts of the 
country is in the sale and exchange of commercial seeds and 
foodstuffs. It is well known that the introduction and subsequent 
spread in this country of some of its most aggressive and unmanage- 
able land-plagues, as the Orange Hawkweed, the Russian Thistle, 
and the Penny-cress, or Frenchweed, are due to this agency. In 
many parts of the country the business is carried on unchecked by 
inspection or restriction of any kind, and in communities possessed 
of laws for such regulation these are often inoperative through 
negligence. This is a state of affairs that works great injustice to 
both the merchant and the farmer. Itinerant presses are hauled 
about the country, putting hay and straw into bales convenient 
for transportation. When shipped away for sale, a hay-bale may 
contain a large percentage of Ox-eye Daisy, Yarrow, Ragweed, or 
Wild Carrot, rendering it unpalatable and innutritions to stock and 
a lasting damage to the fields where the refuse is spread ; yet it may 
bring nearly as good a price as another bale of clean Timothy or 
Blue Grass. Were the "pressmen" obliged by law to tag every 
bale according to its quality, growers would be made more heedful 
of their own shortcomings, and salesmen would be less blamed for a 
matter over which they have little control. 

On both sides of the steel track, long green trails, composed largely 
of pernicious kinds of growth, have been drawn over the country 
by the railways, for which they have been called to account and 
obliged to spend enormous sums yearly in keeping their rights-of- 
way in order. The cost of weed removal along the railways of the 
one state of Ohio is placed by Stair at over a half-million of dollars 
per annum. Yet it is to be remembered that the railways are 
merely carriers, probably preferring to haul good, rather than bad, 
merchandise, and having nothing to do with the composition of the 
cargoes that have leaked and spilled so much vexation to the 
cultivators along their routes. The farmer who blames the rail- 
way for a new pest in his fields may have shipped some that are 
just as troublesome to other localities. 

Many American farmers are very unwise and shortsighted in the 



12 A MANUAL OF WEEDS 

matter of sowing impure seed. The labor and care required to 
remove all seeds of an undesirable kind, differing as they do in size, 
form, and weight, makes both "grain-seed" and "grass-seed" of 
first quality very expensive ; but in the end it is the cheapest of all, 
and no other should be sown. Its extra cost is never so great as 
to overbalance the loss from weed-starved crops, requiring extra 
labor to harvest, to say nothing of infesting the land itself with some 
long-lived nuisance which it may take years to destroy. If ever a 
man may be characterized as "penny-wise and pound-foolish" it is 
the farmer who, from ill-advised motives of present economy, 
would so wrong his own property and endanger all neighboring 
possessions. 



CHEMICAL HERBICIDES 

This is comparatively a new way of fighting weeds and further 
experiment is needed for discovery of all its merits. Professor 
Henry L. Bolley, Botanist at the State Experiment Station of 
North Dakota, states that "the preliminary field trials at this 
Station in 1896, were, perhaps, the first experiments of the kind 
conducted in any country." Soon afterward the discovery was 
made in France by M. Aime Girard that Copper sulfate would kill 
Wild Mustard if applied when the foliage was tender. Since then, 
in many parts of this country and Canada and in European coun- 
tries, experimenters have been at work, trying the effects on various 
plants of different chemicals, seeking to find the reason why the 
treatment succeeds in some cases and not in others, and to learn how 
it can be most economically and effectively used. Such experiment 
has proved the worth of the following chemicals as weed-killers, or 
herbicides : 

Common salt {Sodium chloride). This is the cheapest, handiest, 
and safest of herbicides, but not the most useful ; for, when applied 
in sufficiently large amounts to kill a pernicious plant such as the 
Orange Hawkweed, it may also kill other plant-life and so permeate 
the soil as to check all agricultural growth for a season. Its de- 
structiveness lies in its power to absorb the moisture in the soil and 
from the plant tissues, so that they die of thirst ; therefore, if it is 
to be effectual, it should be applied in hot, dry weather. Small 
areas of Quack Grass and Canada Thistle may sometimes be 
entirely destroyed by salting freely and then allowing cattle and 
sheep to bite down the salted herbage, repeating the operation as 
often as new shoots appear. In places where it is needful to expel 
all plant growth, salt may be used in the form of hot brine, the 
solution being so strong as to show forming crystals on its surface. 

Copperas, or Green vitriol (Iron sulfate). This chemical, being 
a by-product of the iron and steel industry, is comparatively cheap, 

13 



14 A MANUAL OF WEEDS 

costing only about a cent a pound. As an herbicide it should be 
used as a spray, in a solution of about a hundred pounds to a barrel 
of water (52 gallons), which should be a sufficient amount to spread 
over about an acre of herbage. A dust spray of this chemical has 
also been used, but is effective only when the plants are wet with 
dew. Iron sulfate is particularly useful as a grain-field herbicide, 
applied in dry, clear weather, when there is no likelihood that rain 
will wash off the plants before the chemical has done its work. 
Grains and grasses are very resistant to injury from the spray, 
partly, no doubt, because their growth is from the center and 
they quickly recover from such slight harm as may have been done 
to the outer leaves ; also, they are smoother in texture than many 
of the grain-field pests, such as Corn Cockle, Charlock, and King- 
head, so that the spray does not cling so readily to their slender, 
blade-like leaves. The spray must be applied before the grain 
begins to "head" or the weeds to bloom, at a time when both are 
making the most rapid growth, for then the grain recovers so swiftly 
as scarcely to receive any check in its growth, and the weeds 
succumb most readily when they are most green and succulent. 
In the pea-field also this spray may be used to kill weeds without 
serious injury to the crop, but not with beans. Clover and alfalfa 
leaves are blackened, but recover rapidly if the solution has not 
been too strong. 

When successfully carried out, this method of cleaning a field of 
its undesirable plants pays the farmer very well ; for returns from 
crops that have been relieved from competition with weeds for food 
and moisture and space to grow, are often half as large again as 
those from similar fields untreated, and are greatly improved in 
quality as well as in quantity. 

Bluestone, or blue vitriol {Copper sulfate). This well-known 
fungicide is also a most effective herbicide, if used when the weed 
foliage is young and tender. The formula for the solution is eight 
to twelve pounds of Copper sulfate to a barrel of water (52 gallons), 
using fifty to seventy-five gallons per acre. Professor Bolley found 
twelve pounds of Copper sulfate to be as effective as one hundred 
pounds of Iron sulfate. Like that chemical, it should be used in 
clear weather, when the plants are not likely to be rain-washed for 
at least twenty-four hours, as such a bath would render the work of 



CHEMICAL HERBICIDES 15 

no effect and require that it be done over again. It is necessary 
that sprays shall he fine, like a fog or a mist, in order to be effectual ; 
for drops only roll off the leaves as rain would do, and small drops 
merely make large ones. 

Carbohc acid {Phenol). This can be used only on small areas 
because of its cost. The crude acid may be used in full strength to 
saturate the soil about the perennial roots of such plants as Milk- 
weed and Canada Thistle. It does not corrode metals and can be 
used with any sort of can or pump. When diluted with water it 
needs to be constantly shaken in order to make a good mixture. 
It is quick in action, but not lasting. The treated plants, if deeply 
rooted, often recover and send up new shoots. 

Caustic soda {Sodium hydrate, or Sodium hydroxide). To be 
used where one does not mind killing out all plant growth for a 
season. Better than Carbolic acid for killing Poison Ivy, Spread- 
ing Dogbane, or any other woody and deep-rooted plants. Apply 
in strong solution, preferably in hot, dry weather, and, when the 
noxious growth is killed, water the bare spots frequently so as to 
assist the chemical to leach away. 

Oil of vitriol {Sulfuric acid). This can be handled only in glass 
vessels. It is not used as a spray, but is applied directly to indi- 
vidual plants that are particularly hardy and pernicious. Very 
great care is necessary in its use, as it destroys everything that it 
touches; if accidentally spilled it may make painful "burns" on 
the flesh or eat holes in clothing. It is not recommended, as other 
chemicals are very nearly as effective and are very much less 
dangerous to handle. 

Corrosive sublimate {Bichloride of mercury). Make a solution 
in proportions of one ounce of the drug to six gallons of water. 
Though fatal to the weeds, this, too, is not to be recommended for 
any general use because of its extremely poisonous nature. Its 
cost is also much greater than less dangerous chemicals. 

Kerosene. Crude petroleum. Either of these will kill plants, 
and the former is usually always at hand in the farm household. 
They have the merit of being safe to handle, but are relatively 
more costly than other herbicides. The saturated soil remains 
sterile longer than with applications of caustic soda or carbolic acid. 

Arsenite of soda. This is a very active poison, and extreme care 



16 A MANUAL OF WEEDS 

must be exercised in its use. Do not inhale the powdered drug 
when making the solution, or the spray as it is delivered ; keep to 
the windward side while working with it. The formula for the 
solution is one pound of the drug in three to nine gallons of water. 
White arsenic is cheaper than Arsenite of soda, but needs to be 
combined with twice its weight of Sal soda in order to be readily 
soluble in water ; the formula being, one pound of White arsenic, 
two pounds of Sal soda, three to nine gallons of water. These 
arsenical compounds are the chief ingredients of all commercial 
weed-killers, and are used on walks, roadways, tennis courts, and all 
places where the complete and lasting extirpation of all plant 
growth is required. 



DESCRIPTIVE LIST AND MEANS OF CONTROL 

COMMON BRAKE, OR BRACKEN 

Pteris aquilina, L. 

Other English names: Eagle Fern, Upland Fern, Turkey-foot Brake. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by spores and by rootstocks. 
Season of leaf-production : Early spring until autumn frosts. 
Fruiting fronds : Ripe in August. 
Range: Throughout the world. In this country most troublesome 

on the Pacific Coast. 
Habitat : Upland fields and pastures, open woods, and thickets. 



Every one knows the Bracken 
under some name, for it is the 
most widely distributed of all 
the ferns and its distinctive, 
very large dull green, three- 
parted fronds are like no other. 
Most members of the Fern 
Family demand shade and mois- 
ture, but this one is not so par- 
ticular. It varies much in 
size. In the Eastern States it 
is usually one to three feet tall, 
but on the Pacific Coast it 
grows six to eight feet, and on 
the moors and mountains of 
Scotland the horns of the 
"stately stag" are barely to be 
seen above it. (Fig. 1.) 

Its creeping rootstock is 
black, somewhat less than a 
half-inch in diameter, often 
twenty feet or more long, and 
penetrates the soil deeply. All 

c 17 




Fig. 1. — Common Brake or Bracken 
(Pteris aquilina). X h One branch 
of three-parted frond. 



18 POLYPODIACEAE {FERN FAMILY) 

summer it continues to send up the green, three-parted fronds, 
each segment of which is in turn twice divided. The uncurled 
crosiers are gray and softly woolly, and when unrolling they 
resemble the claw of a large bird, which accounts for its name 
of Turkey-foot Brake. When ripe the fruiting fronds have a 
continuous edging of brown sporangia which at first are covered 
by the reflexed margin of the leaf, but later, as the spores mature, 
this is pushed away. 

Bracken is one of the few ferns for which man has found practical 
uses. The uncurled crosiers are edible as ^'greens" cooked like 
asparagus ; the young rootstocks are also used for food and in brew- 
ing root beer ; the mature fronds are cut and dried to use as bedding 
for stock ; and in Europe the plant is still often used in thatching 
roofs. 

Means of control 

" In June and in August, as well doth appeere, 
Is best to mowe Brakes of all times of the Yeere,'* 

said Thomas Tusser in "Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husban- 
drie," written in 1557. And the advice still holds good, especially 
for grasslands and for steep hillsides where tillage is not desirable. 
Bracken is quite intolerant of lime in the soil, and in such places 
a liberal dressing of lime, applied just after cutting the fern, is a 
check to its growth and also an encouragement to that of the grass 
and clover. But plowing and manuring are the surest means of 
suppressing the weed, for it resents cultivation. Indeed, hardy as 
it is, transplanting is quite difficult except when very young. The 
deep-running rootstocks may not all be destroyed the first year, 
but two or three seasons of such good tillage as to suppress all 
leaf growth should entirely kill the weed. 

SENSITIVE FERN 

Onodea sensibilis, L. 

Other English names: Meadow Brake, Polypod Brake. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by spores and by rootstocks. 
Season of leaf -production : April till first autumn frost. 
Fruiting fronds : Appear in June and July, but do not release spores 
until the following spring. 



POLYPODIACEAE {FERN FAMILY) 



19 



Range: Eastern North America from Newfoundland to Florida 
and westward to the Mississippi River and in some states west. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; wet meadows, pastures, fields, and woods. 



Ferns are usually associated with woodlands and thickets, and, 
though this one may be found in such places, it is equally well 
suited when growing in open ground, provided the soil is not dry. 
The plant frequents the society of the Field Horsetail and has a 
bad name with horsemen and sheep-keepers because of such com- 
pany. But those who have carefully investigated the matter say 
that the fern is not poisonous, the less noticeable Horsetail being 
responsible for the mischief gener- 
ally attributed to it. (Fig. 2). 

The plant springs from a creep- 
ing rootstock which is about a third 
of an inch in thickness and grows 
not far below the surface, branch- 
ing often and producing new fronds 
all summer until checked by frost, 
to which it is very sensitive. It is 
a rather coarse-looking plant, six 
inches to three feet high, the whole 
frond nearly triangular in outline 
but divided into oblong, lance- 
shaped, coarsely scalloped segments 
at the end of a long stipe, or stalk. 
The leaf is light green and withers 
quickly when plucked. The fruit- 
ing fronds are much shorter than 
the sterile ones ; they are twice 
pinnate, but the segments, or pin- 
nules, are at first so tightly rolled as 
to completely hide the sporangia and 
look like rows of green berries at- 
tached to the midrib ; later they turn 
from green to brown, and remain 
stiffly standing all winter, after the green sterile fronds are withered 
and gone. Indeed, the fruiting fronds of two or three successive 




Fig. 



2. — Sensitive Fern (Onoclea 
X h 



20 



EQUISETACEAE {HORSETAIL FAMILY) 



seasons may sometimes be found on one plant ; but broken and 
empty, for the spores are cast and germinate in the spring. 

Means of control 

Drainage of the ground. The presence of the weed is indicative 
of unwholesome soil conditions. After drainage, one or two sea- 
sons of thorough cultivation will destroy the rather shallow-growing 
rootstocks and cause the plant to disappear. Distribution of the 
spores may be prevented by cutting the fronds in the first season, 
when they are immature. 



FIELD HORSETAIL 

EquisHum arvense, L. 

Other English names : Meadow Pine, Green Foxtail Rush, Pinetop, 
Pine Grass, Snake Grass. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by 

spores and by rootstocks bearing 

small tubers. 
Spore-bearing stems appear : April to 

May. 
Sterile stems produced: All summer. 
Range: American continent from 

Greenland to Alaska, southward to 

Virginia and California. 
Habitat : Damp grasslands, moist road 

embankments. 



In early spring one may note large 
colonies of the fertile stems of these 
plants, mere cylindrical, light brown, 
leafless stalks, four to eight inches 
high, jointed, hollow, and tipped with 
yellowish, club-shaped, spore-bearing 
heads. Each joint is ridged and 
grooved and edged with a brown 
sheath, notched with eight to a dozen 
teeth. The joints readily pull apart. 
These early, fertile plants scatter their 
spores to the winds and wither and 
die in a few weeks. But later, from 




Fig. 3. — Field Horsetail (Equi- 
setum arvense). X i. 



GRAMINEAE {GRASS FAMILY) 21 

the same perennial, creeping, jointed, and branching rootstocks, 
spring the green, plume-Uke, sterile stems known as Horse- 
tails (Fig. 3). These are eight inches to more than a foot 
tall, also hollow and jointed, but having whorls of simple rough 
branches issuing from the base of each sheath ; the branches are 
usually four-angled, but sometimes have only three sides, and are 
jointed but not hollow. These green Horsetails are the food-as- 
similating, starch-making parts of the plant and keep busy all 
summer, storing the creeping rootstocks with nutriment for the 
next year's fruiting stems. 

The Horsetail is poisonous — most dangerously, sometimes 
fatally, so to horses, and in a much less degree to sheep, causing in 
the flocks merely a thin, unthrifty appearance and lack of good 
condition. Strangely enough, neat cattle seem to be able to digest 
the weed without injury. The state of Vermont, where horse- 
raising is so great an industry, credits to this plant a loss of some 
thousands of dollars annually. 

Means of control 

Drain, fertilize, and cultivate the ground. The plant thrives 
best in sandy or gravelly soil that is moist during the early part of 
the season, or where the soil water approaches near the surface. 
Drainage, and two or three seasons of good, thorough tillage, will 
drive it out ; for, though the rootstocks are deeper in the ground 
than ordinary cultivation penetrates, yet they will starve and die if 
kept deprived of the green, food-assimilating, sterile stems. Plants 
of waste places should receive attention, to the destruction of 
both fertile and sterile shoots, as the wind-carried spores may 
start new infestations. 

VIRGINIA BEARD-GRASS 

Andropogon virginicus, L. 

Other English names : Broom Sedge. Sedge-grass. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: Late August to October. 

Range: Massachusetts to Illinois and southward to Florida and 

Texas. Most abundant and troublesome in the South. 
Habitat: Meadows, pastures; grain, corn, and cotton fields. 



22 GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 

Broom Sedge is a southern weedy grass which is extending its 
range northward, It grows in thick tufts, the stems attaining a 
height of three to five feet, very Kght green when young and turn- 
ing to a brownish yellow as they ripen, at all times very conspicuous 
among other grasses. Stems slender, flattened at the base, and 
sparingly branched above. Sheaths smooth except for a slight 
hairiness at the edge ; leaves six inches to a foot long and less than 
a quarter-inch wide, with rough edges and upper surface somewhat 
hairy near the base. The flowering spikes are usually in pairs, 
sometimes in threes, about an inch long, protruding from smooth 
spathes which are longer ; they are slender and flexuous, the joints 
and pedicels covered with long, silky hairs. Seeds light yellow, 
about an eighth of an inch long, oat-like in form, with a tuft of 
fine hair at the base, and at the tip an awn nearly half an inch in 
length. These hairy attachments help the seeds to be widely 
sown by the winds. 

Means of control 

In newly infested ground it will pay to grub out the tufts when 
they are first observed, their light color noticeably contrasting with 
other grasses. In any case they should be cut while in early bloom, 
or even before flowering in order to make certain that no seeds may 
be developed. But if seeds have ripened and fallen, burn over the 
ground so as to destroy such as are on its surface, and put the field 
under cultivation in order to kill the roots, following the cultivated 
crop with clover. In localities where this weed is most aggressive, 
short rotations, with very thorough tillage, are necessary in order 
to prevent it from possessing the land. 



JOHNSON-GRASS 

Sorghum halepense, Pers. 
{Andropogon halepensis, Brot.) 

Other English names: Means-grass, Syrian-grass, Aleppo-grass, 
False Guinea-grass, Egyptian-grass, Morocco Millet, Arabian 
Millet, Evergreen Millet. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom : Early June to July. 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 23 

Seed-time : July to August to September ; when cut for hay crop, 
both blooming and seeding time may be retarded. 

Range: Southern part of United States to latitude of Tennessee, 
westward to California, and along Pacific Coast to Oregon and 
Washington. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, waste places. 



About 1830 there came to Governor Means, of South Carolina, a 
message from the Sultan of Turkey, requesting that an instructor in 
the art of raising cotton be sent to the Ottoman Empire. Two or 
three years later, when the instructor returned, he brought with 
him the seeds of a number of plants that seemed to him to be of 
economic value, and among them was this grass. An Alabama 
planter, Colonel William Johnson, while on a visit to South Caro- 
lina, became interested in the new plant, obtained a quantity of 
seed, and raised it extensively on his plantation in the fertile bottom 
lands of the Alabama River. Since then it has spread over about 
half of the United States, and but for the fact that it is a tropical 
plant, likely to be winterkilled where the ground freezes to any 
depth, it might have possessed the land to a much greater extent. 
And, once established, it is almost impossible to control it because 
of its deep-running, branching roots tocks. Added to the difficulty 
of control is the fact that, like all the Sorghums, the plant occasion- 
ally develops a poisonous quality, due to the presence of hydrocyanic 
acid. Complaints of the deaths of cattle and horses from this cause 
come mostly from the Pacific Coast, where the growth of the grass 
on irrigated ground is especially rank. In India, where the plant 
is much used as fodder for cattle, it has been noted that deaths 
frequently occur when, because of the failure of rain, plants that 
have reached a good size become wilted. When a rainfall comes, 
the poisonous principle disappears ; just what condition develops 
it is not known. 

Culms large and stout, about a half-inch thick at base, and ordi- 
narily five or six feet tall but may reach a height of eight or nine 
feet ; pith filled with sugary juice. Sheaths smooth ; leaves a foot 
or more long, about an inch wide, smooth, and flat. Panicles very 
large and loose, the branches whorled and spreading, naked at base ; 
spikelets in groups of three, the central one sessile and fertile, some- 
times bearing an awn, usually bent, the glume purplish, covered 



24 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



with fine appressed hair; the two lateral spikelets have pedicels 
and are staminate or empty. So rapid a grower is the grass that 
two, three, even four, heavy crops of hay 
may be harvested yearly, if cut before it 
blooms ; the hay is much relished by all 
kinds of stock and is very fattening ; even 
the rootstocks are tender and sweet, and 
hogs eat them eagerly ; were it not so ag- 
gressive it would be a most valued plant. 
(Fig. 4.) 

Means of control 

With a view toward finding some 
means of eradication, J. S. Gates, of the 
Bureau of Plant Industry at Washington, 
was employed by the Government to make 
a special study of the plant, and the results 
of his experiments and conclusions are 
embodied in Farmers' Bulletin 279 of the 
U. S. Department of Agriculture. He 
states that the rootstocks are of three 
kinds, which he classifies as primary, 
secondary, and tertiary. 

"Primary rootstocks embrace all the 
rootstocks alive in the ground at the begin- 
ning of the growing season in the spring. 

"Secondary rootstocks are those which 
arise from the primaries, come to the sur- 
face and there form crowns, thus producing 
new plants. 

"A tertiary rootstoek is one starting later 
in the season, about flowering time, from the base of the crown of this 
new plant. 

"These tertiary rootstocks, when the ground is soft, and especially' 
when a large top is allowed to develop, grow to a large diameter and 
penetrate to a great depth, sometimes as much as four feet and normally 
from fifteen to thirty inches ; at other times, when the soil is compact, 
and especially when the plant above ground is not allowed to develop 
by reason of mowing or grazing, or both, the tertiary rootstocks grow 
to but small diameter and run along just under the surface, cropping 
out at intervals to form new plants. Our observations indicate that 




Fig. 4. — Johnson-grass 
(Sorghum halepense). X h 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 25 

the primary rootstocks (i.e., those that were in the ground at the begin- 
ning of the growing season in spring) all decay in the fall, after the 
growing season is over. Their strength has been taken up in the 
formation of secondary rootstoeks and above-ground growth. In 
other words, the old rootstoeks do not live over a second winter. 
Only the new ones (secondaries and tertiaries) do this. Under our 
classification, secondary and tertiary rootstoeks become primary 
rootstoeks at the beginning of the next season after their formation, 
and they, in their turn, send out secondary growth to reach the sur- 
face ; the plant formed at the surface then sends out from the base 
of its crown, about the time it J)lossoms, the large, deep-burrowing 
tertiary rootstoeks which, in the^£ .|t land of the cultivated cotton and 
corn fields, cause so much mischieV the following year. The longer the 
plants are allowed to stand after blossoming, the larger and deeper these 
tertiary stems become." 

Acting on this study of the rootstock habits of Johnson-grass, 
Mr. Gates advises the turning of infested land into meadow or 
pasture and keeping it so persistently mown or grazed as to allow 
it no opportunity for bloom ; then the tertiary growth of rootstoeks 
will be small and near the surface, enabling the farmer to clean out 
the grass the next year by a little extra care in plowing and cul- 
tivating. As a soiling crop the grass may be cut every month 
from May until November, and this will leave little energy to be 
given to the formation of the deeper rootstoeks. 

Professor Killebrew, of the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment 
Station, says that the way to keep the grass in subjection is to plow 
the land and allow hogs to pasture on the juicy rootstoeks, which 
they like better than artichokes. Rotation with winter grains, 
such as oats, barley, or rye, is practiced in many sections, wheat 
being too late in maturing. The ground is plowed in late summer 
and as many of the rootstoeks are harrowed out as possible ; then 
the grain is sown in early fall and harvested in the spring, before 
blooming time for the grass, after which three crops of Johnson- 
grass hay may be cut during the summer. 

Professor Spillman, Agrostologist of the Bureau of Plant Indus- 
try, believes the best plan to be the sowing of infested land with 
alfalfa, after harrowing out as many of the rootstoeks as possible, 
early in the fall, in order to allow the alfalfa to get a good start be- 
fore winter. The next season cut promptly, whenever the grass is 
tall enough to make a fair crop of hay. This treatment encourages 
the clover and discourages the grass, which will finally be crowded 



26 GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 

out. Professor Spillman succeeded in cleansing a plot of Johnson- 
grass in one year, without loss of the use of the ground, by a sys- 
tem of fall plowing, with a turning plow capable of turning every 
inch of the sod, harrowing thoroughly for the purpose of loosening 
the soil, and then removing the rootstocks with an implement called 
a root-digger, or grass-hoe. This method is discussed in detail in 
Bulletin 72 of the Bureau of Plant Industry. 

CRAB-Urass 

Digitdria sanguiridlis, Scop. 
(Syntherisma sanguindlis, Nash.) 

Other English names : Finger Grass, Polish Mil- 
let, Purple or Large Crab-grass. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds and 
by rooting at the lower joints. 

Time of hloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Throughout the world. 

Habitat : Cultivated ground, waste places. 

The seeds of this grass must be very long- 
lived, for, though it is never sown, let the 
ground be cultivated, and as a general thing 
Crab-grass will be there. In the Southern States 
this is regarded as a good thing, for the spon- 
taneous growth of the grass in grain fields after 
harvest often yields a heavy crop of nutritious 
hay and good pasturage after that. It is in 
gardens, lawns, and cultivated ground that 
the plant makes itself a plague, particularly in 
a moist season. (Fig. 5.) 

Culms one to four feet long, decumbent or 
creeping at base, and putting forth roots wher- 
ever the joints are in touch with moist soil. 
Sheaths and basal part of the blades rough and 
more or less hairy, the blades three to six inches 
long and a quarter to a half-inch wide. Spikes 
Jss \D%i'^riaTc^. "^^^"y ^hree to six in number but occasionally 
guinalis). X |. as many as ten, two to five inches long, gener- 




GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 27 

ally purplish or reddish brown, arranged in a whorl at the end of 
the stalk like the fingers of a hand. Spikelets in pairs, one sessile, 
the other having a minute pedicel. The seeds are very nutritious, 
and in Germany and Poland they are used for a table viand, 
cooked in milk, like sago. 

Means of control 

Nothing but careful hand labor will clean Crab-grass out of a 
garden or cultivated field ; and it needs to be cast into a fire or a 
compost heap, for an uprooted stem left on the ground promptly 
takes root again. In lawns the grass must be hand-pulled, for 
pieces scattered by lawn-mowers are likely to take root and in- 
crease the pest. But if the plant is not allowed to develop seed, 
two or three seasons of careful weeding should clean it from the soil. 

SMALL OR SMOOTH CRAB-GRASS 

Digitaria humifusa, Pers. 
{Syntherisma linearis, Nash.) 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Nova Scotia to South Dakota, southward to Florida and 

Louisiana. 
Habitat: Lawns, pastures, and waste places. 

Culms six to eighteen inches long, smooth, slender, usually 
decumbent at base, much branched and spreading. Leaves one to 
three inches long, very narrow and pointed. Spikes two to four 
inches long, two to six in number, digitate at the end of the stalk 
or one or two near the summit, very slender, one-sided. Spikelets 
usually in pairs, one sessile or nearly so, the other short-pediceled. 
The whole plant of a reddish color ; less troublesome than the 
preceding species for it does not root at the joints. 

Means of control 

Cutting so persistently as to prevent seed production. Top- 
dressing and enriching the ground will enable the better grasses 
and clovers to crowd out the annual weed. 



28 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



OLD WITCH GRASS 

Pdnicum capilldre, L. 

Other English names: Tumbleweed Grass, Tickle Grass, Witch's 

Hair. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: Late August to November. 
Range : Nova Scotia to British Columbia, southward to Florida and 

Mexico. 
Habitat : Sandy soil ; fields and waste places. 

Culms stout, erect, or with decum- 
bent base, branched and spreading, 
one to two feet in height. Sheaths 
very hairy, the blades somewhat less 
so, the latter a quarter-inch to 
nearly an inch wide and six inches 
to a foot long. Panicles very large 
and spreading, the terminal one often 
more than a foot long, the branch- 
lets hair-like, the spikelets very 
small, containing one tiny, shining 
grayish brown seed. When mature, 
the branches become very stiff and 
brittle and the large panicles break 
away and are driven before the 
winds for long distances, often 
piling in thick windrows against 
fences. In these journeys the seed- 
bearing, hair-like but brittle branch- 
lets are broken from the stalks and 
the ground over which the tumblers 
roll is well seeded. In good sod the 
seed seldom "catches," but on 

stubbles and cultivated ground the plant is a troublesome weed. 

(Fig. 6.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by mowing, hoe-cutting or hand-pulling 
while in bloom or before. 




Fig. 6. — Old Witch Grass (Pan- 
icum capillare). X j. 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



29 



SPROUTING PANIC-GRASS 

Pdnicum dichotomijibrum, Michx. 
{Pdnicum prollferum, Lam.) 

Other English names : Sprouting Crab-grass, Knee-grass, Spreading 
Panicum. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: Late August to No- 
vember. 

Range : Maine to Nebraska, south- 
ward to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat : Moist, rich soil ; fields 
and waste places. 

A large, coarse grass, the culms 
stout, flattened, succulent, at first 
erect, two to three feet high, later 
becoming decumbent and genicu- 
late, the stalks lengthening, some- 
times to six feet, branching, and 
sending up flowering stalks at all 
the upper joints. Sheaths loose, 
smooth, flattened, the ligule a ring 
of hairs ; blades six to eighteen 
inches long, a quarter-inch to an 
inch wide, rough on the edges and 
the central nerve. Panicles large, 
spreading, six inches to more than 
a foot in length, the spikelets 
crowded, brown or purplish, the 
seeds resembling those of Old 
Witch but larger. Cattle and 
horses are fond of the succulent, 
sweetish stems when young, but it 
soon becomes hard and innutri- 
tions, and nearly worthless as dry 
forage. (Fig. 7.) 




Fig. 7. — Sprouting Panic-grass 
{Panicum dichotomiflorum) . 



Xi. 



Means of control 

Close cutting before seed development. 



30 GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 

SWITCH-GRASS 

Pdnicum virgdtum, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstoeks. 
Ti7ne of bloom : August to September. 
Seed-time : September to October. 

Range: Maine to Manitoba, southward to Florida and Mexico. 
Habitat : Sandy soil ; prairies, in the interior ; salt marshes along 
the coast ; banks of streams, low meadows. 

In many places where the soil may be in danger of washing, the 
strong, creeping rootstoeks of this grass make it valuable as a binder, 
and its hard, thickly tufted stalks serve as a check to drifting sands 
in the marshes along the coast. But as forage it is practically 
worthless, except when very young, and it is an undesirable occu- 
pant of meadows and pastures. 

Culms three to five feet tall, smooth, often glaucous. Sheaths 
smooth ; blades a foot or more long, about a half-inch wide, smooth, 
flat, slightly rough on the margins. Panicles very large, erect, six 
to twenty inches long, spreading, pyramidal, purple when in bloom. 
Spikelets one-seeded, ovate, pointed, about a sixth of an inch long, 
very numerous. 

Means of control 

Where practicable the rootstoeks may be destroyed most readily 
by cultivation of the ground for one or two seasons. Early and 
frequent cutting is necessary in order to secure the forage while 
in good condition and to prevent the development of seed ; at the 
same time such treatment will starve the rootstoeks. 



BARNYARD GRASS 

Echinochloa crus-gdlli, Beauv. 
(Pdnicum crus-gdlli, L.) 

Other English names: Cockspur Grass, Cocksfoot Panicum. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: All cultivated regions of the world. 

Habitat : Moist, rich soil ; gardens, fields, and waste places. 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



31 



The Indians of Arizona and Southern Cahfornia use the seed of 
this grass for food ; cattle are very fond of it when green and suc- 
culent ; and in some parts of the country, 
particular!}^ in the flooded river-bottom 
lands of the Southwest, it yields heavy vol- 
unteer crops of hay. But generally it is 
considered a weed. Its seed is nearly 
always found with that of other grasses 
and of clover. (Fig. 8.) 

Culms stout, smooth, two to five feet 
tall. Sheaths compressed, smooth ; blades 
six inches to nearly two feet long, a half- 
inch to an inch wide, smooth, with a 
strong central nerve and margins some- 
what rough. Panicle large, four inches 
to a foot or more long, variable, composed 
of numerous sessile branches, erect or 
spreading, or the lower ones reflexed. 
Spikelets one-seeded, nearly sessile, ovate, 
in three or four irregular, densely crowded 
rows on one side of the rachis, varying in 
color from deep purple to pale green, some- 
times long-awned, but often without 
awns, the glumes unequal, sharp-pointed, 
and bristly-hairy. Seeds about an eighth 
of an inch long, pointed ovoid, plump. 




Fig. 8. — Barnyard 
grass (Echinochloa crus- 
galli). X \. 



Means of control 

Cutting so frequently that no seed can mature. In cultivated 
ground the weed is easily kept in subjection by hoe-cutting while 
small. 

YELLOW FOXTAIL GRASS 

Setaria glaiica, Beauv. 

Othei' English names: Pigeon Grass, Pussy Grass, Summer Grass, 

Wild Millet. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 



32 



GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 



Range: All cultivated regions of the world. 
Habitat : All soils ; invades any crop. 



The seeds of this weed are among the most frequent impurities 
of other grass seeds and of clover and grain. It was probably in 
such company that it came to us from Europe, with the early set- 
tlers. Once in the soil, it retains its vitality for years, springing up 
whenever brought near enough to surface 
warmth and light. Cattle will eat it when 
young but it soon becomes woody and 
worthless. Birds and poultry, especially 
turkeys, are very fond of the seeds, which 
they strip from the stalks. (Fig. 9.) 

Culms branching from the base, growing 
from fibrous and clustered roots, usually 
one to four feet tall — though when started 
late, and pressed for time. Foxtail matures 
seed when no more than three inches high ; 
stalks compressed at the base, sometimes 
decumbent. Sheaths loose, compressed, 
the lower ones often tinged with red ; 
blades three to six inches long, nearly a 
half-inch wide, flat, smooth, and hanging 
with a twist. Spikes two to four inches 
long, the spikelets closely crowded, one- 
seeded, subtended by an involucral cluster 
of six to ten upwardly barbed, brownish 
yellow bristles much longer than the 
spikelets. Seeds with palea and finely 
wrinkled lemma both adherent, yellowish 
Fig. 9. — Yellow FoxtaU ^rown, long ovoid, about a tenth of an 
iSetaria glauca). X h i^ch in length. 




Means of control 

In grain fields, stubbles should be given surface cultivation; 
or, if the soil is dry enough, burning over will destroy the seeds that 
have fallen on the ground. In cultivated crops tillage should be 
continued very late, in order to prevent the development and dis- 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



33 



tribution of seed from tardily grown plants. Sheep may be tm-ned 
in to graze down the aftermath of infested meadows. 



BRISTLY FOXTAIL 

Setdria verticilldta, Beauv. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Ontario, and eastern part of United States 

to New Jersey and Kentucky. 
Habitat : Fields, gardens, and waste places. 

Growing in tufts from fibrous roots like the preceding species, 
but lower and more spreading, the culms 
ten inches to two feet tall, usually de- 
cumbent at base, more or less branched. 
Leaves two to eight inches long, from a 
quarter-inch to a half-inch wide, rough 
on the upper surface. Spikes two to 
four inches long, the involucral bristles 
at the base of the one-seeded spikelets 
being in pairs, stout, and dowmvardly 
barbed, standing out almost at right 
angles to the spike. These downward 
barbs cause the seeds to adhere to the 
wool of sheep, which the seeds of other 
Foxtails do not do. 

Like the preceding species, this weed 
is controlled by preventing seed pro- 
duction. 

GREEN FOXTAIL 
Setdria viridis, Beauv. 

Other English name: Bottle Grass. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by 
seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Throughout North America ex- 
cept the far North. Fig. 10. — Green Foxtail 

Habitat: All soils ; invades all crops. (Setaria viridis) . x i. 

D 




34 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



Culms one to three feet tall, erect, usually simple but sometimes 
branched, growing in tufts. Sheaths smooth ; blades three to ten 
inches long, one-fourth to one-half inch wide, rough on the margins, 
dark green. Spikes two to four inches in length, rather thick, the 
involucral bristles subtending the spikelets being nearly a half-inch 
long, two to six for each flower, green or sometimes yellowish, 
barbed upward. Seed similar to that of Yellow Foxtail but slightly 
smaller, very common in clover seed. Also it seems a worse pest in 
lawns and gardens than either of its relatives. (Fig. 10.) 

Mea7is of control 

Hoe-cutting or hand-pulling while 
the tufts are small, in lawns and gar- 
dens ; surface cultivation or burning 
over of stubbles after harvest ; pre- 
vention of seeding in all ways possible. 

SAND-BUR 

Cenchrus tribuloides, L. 

Other English names : Hedgehog Grass, 
Bur Grass, Coekspur Bui', Sandspur, 
Bear Grass. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-ti7ne: July to September. 

Range: Maine and Ontario to the 
Dakotas, southward to Florida, 
Texas, and Southern California ; 
most troublesome in the South. 

Habitat : Sandy soil ; shores and waste 
places. 



Usually this grass may be found 
growing near any place where wool 
has been stored and cleaned. The 
burs are said to be more difficult to 
remove from the fleeces than any 
others, and a tribulation they must be 
to the poor beasts in whose hides 
they rankle. 




Fig. 11. — Sand-bur (Cenchrus 
tribuloides). X j. 



GR AMINE AE (GBASS FAMILY) 35 

Culms ten inches to two feet in length, with many branches, the 
longer ones spreading and decumbent for part of their length, the 
shorter ones erect. Sheaths very loose, slightly flattened, smooth 
but with hairy margins, the ligule conspicuously fringed ; blades 
two to five inches long, smooth, usually flat but sometimes involute. 
Racemes bearing eight to twenty clusters of two to six flowers, the 
clusters subtended by ovoid or globular involucres which later 
enclose the seeds, forming hairy burs about a quarter-inch in diam- 
eter, thickly set with stiff, sharp, finely barbed prickles, which 
are strong enough to penetrate shoe leather. (Fig. 11.) 

Means of control 

Small areas about sheep-washing places should be hoe-cut, hand- 
pulled, or burned over before the burs ripen. A sandy pasture 
or meadow infested with the weed should be burned over, culti- 
vated, and fertilized before reseeding to better growths. As a 
waste-land weed, a whole neighborhood should be interested in its 
extirpation because of its habit of making any passing animal or 
person its carrier to a new field. 

RICE CUT-GRASS 

Leersia oryzoides, Sw. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstoeks. 

Time of bloom : August to September. 

Seed-time : September to October. 

Range: Newfoundland to western Ontario, southward to Florida 

and Texas. 
Habitat: Swamps, and along streams and ditches. 

A bothersome weed in open ditches, which are frequently clogged 
by the dense, tangled masses of its interlacing rootstoeks. Culms 
two to , four feet long, rather stout, decumbent at base, much 
branched. Sheaths shorter than the internodes, very rough ; 
blades three to ten inches long, one-fourth to nearly one-half inch 
wide, very rough, the edges capable of cutting like a knife when 
drawn through the fingers. Panicle loosely branched, lax and 
bending, five to eight inches long, the one-seeded spikelets ar- 
ranged in single rows on the branchlets and overlapping one an- 



36 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



other; they have no glumes and the lemma is boat-shaped, 
sharply keeled, awnless, hard, and bristly, folded over the palea, 
by strong marginal nerves. (Fig. 12.) 

Means of control 

Ditches infested with this weed have to be dug out, and the task 
should be done before any seed has matured to float downstream 
in the hairy, boat-like husks. 





Fig. U 



Rice Cut-grass (Leersia ory- 
zoides). X \. 



Fig. 13. — Canary-grass {Pha- 
laris canariensis) . X x. 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 37 

CANARY-GRASS 

Phdlaris canariensis, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to August. 

Seed-time : August to September. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Ontario, southward to Virginia. 

Habitat: Gardens, roadsides, waste places. 

First grown in this country as food for caged birds and for making 
a flour which is used as sizing in cotton manufacture (weaver's 
glue), this grass has been spread rather extensively through the 
accidental mixture of its seeds with better grasses ; it is worthless 
as hay or green forage. (Fig. 13.) 

Culms one to three feet tall, erect, usually simple but sometimes 
branched, smooth. Sheaths shorter than the internodes, rough, 
loose, the ligules rounded and about one line long; blades three 
inches to a foot long, nearly a half-inch wide, flat, very rough. 
Spike a short, dense head, about an inch long and nearly half as 
thick, the flattened, one-flowered spikelets crowded and overlap- 
ping ; glumes ovate, keeled, white with green veins. Seeds oblong, 
smooth, shining, well known as the familiar bird food. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production, and the weed must disappear as soon as 
all dormant seeds have been stirred to germination and destroyed. 



VANILLA-GRASS 

Hierochloe odordta, Wahlenb. 
(Savastdna odordta, Scribn.) 

Other English names : Sweet-grass, Holy-grass, Seneca-grass, Sweet 

Quack-grass. 
Native. Perennial. ^ Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : April to May. 
Seed-time: Beginning of June. 
Range: Newfoundland to Alaska, southward to Pennsylvania and 

the shores of the Great Lakes, Colorado, and Oregon. Also 

native to northern Europe and Asia. 
Habitat : Prairies ; moist meadows. 



38 



GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 



^ 



The name of ^' Quack" or "Sweet Quack," which western 
farmers have given this grass is confusing, for the true Quack- 
grass flowers in June and its matted "couch" of 
rootstocks is near the surface, while Vanilla-grass 
flowers in early spring and its rootstocks are 
deep in the soil. The whole plant has an odor 
much resembling the Vanilla bean, most lasting 
if plucked while the plant is in flower. In north- 
ern Europe it is strewn before churches, the 
trampling feet of the congregation causing it to 
yield its fragrance, and this custom has given it 
the name of Holy-grass. The Indians of the 
Northwest make baskets and mats of it ; the 
perfume has a tendency to produce sleep, and 
pillows are stuffed with it ; but as hay or forage 
it has no value. 

Culms one to two feet in height, very slen- 
der, erect, simple, smooth. Leaves of the flower- 
ing stalks very short, lance-shaped, smooth or 
only slightly roughened ; but after seeding the 
rootstocks send up many barren stalks with long, 
flat, rough, and deep green leaves whose task is 
to assimilate and store food for next season's 
early bloom. The panicles show when the stalks 
are but a few inches above the ground and grow 
with them, unfolding very suddenly ; they are 
pyramidal, two to four inches long, the branchlets 
spreading and drooping when green but stiffening 
and becoming erect and wiry as the seeds ripen, 
the glumes turning golden brown tinged with 
purple. Spikelets one-seeded. (Fig. 14.) 



Fig. 14. — Va- 
nilla-grass (Hiero- 
chloe odorata) . X j 



Means of control 

Summer fallowing, with very deep plowing, which will expose 
and wither the rootstocks. The ripened grass should first be mowed 
and burned so as to avoid plowing under the long-lived seeds. 
Or deep plowing in spring when the grass is in flower, and immedi- 
ately seeding the ground heavily with some grass of quick growth. 



GRAMINEAE {GRASS FAMILY) 



39 



Shallow plowing or surface cultivation merely stimulates the 
growth of the grass. 

PORCUPINE-GRASS 

Stipa spdrtea, Trin. 

Other English names: Weather Grass, Needle Grass, Auger-seed. 

Grass. In South Dakota it is called Wild Oats. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to July. 
Seed-time : July to August. 
Range: Prairies of the Middle Western States from Ohio to the 

Rocky Mountains, north to Manitoba, British Columbia, and 

the Saskatchewan region. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; wild meadows 

and pastures. 



A large, stout grass, growmg in 
tufts from a matted cluster of fibrous 
roots. Culms tw^o to four feet tall, 
simple, erect, smooth. Sheaths long, 
mostly overlapping, slightly rough; 
basal blades about half as long as 
the culm, involute, and tapering to 
a thread-like point ; stem leaves six 
inches to a foot long, hardly more 
than a sixth of an inch wide, gener- 
ally flat but sometimes involute, 
with long, attenuate points. Pani- 
cles long and slim, with erect 
branches, the base at first often 
enclosed by the sheath but later 
much exserted. Spikelets one-seeded, 
the glumes smooth, very narrow 
and bristle-pointed, exceeding an 
inch in length ; the lemma tightly 
enfolding the seed, hard, stiff, brown, 
its lower part clothed with short 
rigid hairs and having a sharp- 
pointed beak or callus, and at the 
tip an awn, sometimes six inches -p 
long, rough, stiff, strongly twisted 




— Porcupine-grass (Stipa 
spartea). X i. 



40 GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 

for half its length, usually with a double bend beyond the straight 
spiral. (Fig. 15.) This spiral awn relaxes when damp and 
tightens again when dry, enabling the seed to bore its way 
into the soil with the sharp beak at its base ; but if caught in 
the wool of a sheep it bores just as readily into the flesh of the 
animal, the stiff hairs near the base of the seed holding it in place 
while the awn twists and untwists through days of torment, 
making sores which injure the quality of the wool and some- 
times endanger the creature's life. Hay containing the awns is 
worse than worthless, for, when eaten by horses, cattle, or sheep, 
the broken bits lodge in the intestines, causing inflammation so 
serious as sometimes to end in death. 

Means of control 

Mowing so frequently or grazing so closely as entirely to prevent 
the formation of seed. If the grass is very abundant, the land 
should be broken up and put to a soiling crop before reseeding. 

WESTERN STIPA 

Stipa comata, Trin. & Rupr. 

Other English names: Needle-grass, Needle-'and- thread. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seed. 

Time of hlooni : June to July. 

Seed-time: July to August. 

Range : Plains of the Missouri River, the Rocky Mountain foothills 

of Northwest Canada, and in New Mexico and California. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; wild meadows and pastures. 

A close relative of the preceding species but not quite so vicious. 
Both these grasses make excellent forage when young, and good 
hay when cut before seed development ; but there are grasses, as 
good as these or better, that do not carry such offensive weapons. 

Culms erect, smooth, simple, one to two feet tall, growing in 
thick tufts or mats. Sheaths overlapping, mostly crowded at the 
base, the upper ones long and loose and often enclosing the lower 
part of the panicle; basal blades about half as long as the culm, 
involute, with very long, thread-like tip ; stem leaves three to six 
inches long, broader than the basal ones, involute. Panicle erect, 
six to ten inches long, somewhat loose and spreading; spikelets 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



41 



one-seeded, the glumes exceedingly narrow and tipped with long 
bristles, the lemma with an acute callus ; awn four to eight 
inches long, rough-hairy and twisted in the lower part, extremely 
slender, flexible, and thread-like ; not harmful when caught in the 
coats of animals but very objectionable in hay. 

Means of control the same as for the preceding specieSo 



POVERTY-GRASS 

Aristida dichotoma, Michx. 

Other English narne: Three-awned 

Wire-grass. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : August to October. 
Seed-time: September to November. 
Range: Maine to Ontario, southward 

to Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, and 

Florida. 
Habitat: Dry upland meadows, pas- 

tiu'es, and waste places. 



Sterile, sandy, or gravelly soils seem 
to be preferred by this wiry grass. 
Stems tufted, six inches to two feet 
tall, erect, very slender, and usually 
forking at every joint. Sheaths short, 
loose, and smooth, with hairy Hgules ; 
the blades are one to three inches long, 
scarcely a tenth of an inch wide, with 
rough surface and edges involute. 
Panicles very slender, two to five 
inches long, the lateral ones often en- 
closed in the sheaths ; spikelets hardly 
a quarter-inch long, the glumes sharp- 
pointed, not quite equal ; the lemma 
hard, convolute, closely enfolding the 
seed with the palea, and terminated with 
three awns, of which the lateral ones are 
short but the central one is about as long 
as the lemma and is held horizontally 
with a twist at the base. (Fig. 16.) 




Fig. 16. — Poverty- 
tida dichotoma). 



42 



GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



Mea7is of control 

Cultivate and enrich the soil by furnishing it with humus to 
enable it to retain moisture, thus putting it in condition to support 
grasses or other plants of better quality. 



Fig. 17. — Few- 
flowered Aristida 
(Aristida oligantha). 



FEW-FLOWERED ARISTIDA 

Aristida oligantha, Michx, 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range .; New Jersey to Nebraska, southward to 

Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. 
Habitat: Dry grasslands, waste places. 

A worthless, wiry grass, similar to the pre- 
ceding, and, like it, partial to sterile soil. Stems 
tufted, very slender, erect, branched at base, 
and forked at every joint. Sheaths long and 
loose, smooth but with minutely hairy ligules, 
the blades smooth, two to six inches long, 
hardly an eighth of an inch wide, involute, and 
extended to a very long, sharp point. Panicle 
very narrow, and flexuous, bearing only a few, 
sometimes but two or three spreading spikelets, 
with the triple awns divergent but ascending, 
and usually all about equal in length or the 
central one somewhat exceeding the other two. 
(Fig. 17.) 

Means of control the same as for Poverty- 
grass. 

SAND-GRASS 

Aristida fasciculdta, Michx. 

Other English name : Three-awned Needle-grass. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: August to October. 
Seed-time: September to November. 
Range: Kansas to California, Arizona, New 

Mexico, and Texas. 
Habitat : Dry, sterile fields, pastures, and waste 

places. 



GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 43 

In the hot, arid regions of the Southwest, which are its home, 
the Sand-grass is not called a weed, for its thin, wiry stems afford 
some grazing where otherwise there might be none ; but when it 
appears in soils where better forage can be made to flourish, it 
should be crowded out. Its seeds are often an impurity of western 
grass seed. 

It grows in tufts, from tufted roots, the stems six to eighteen 
inches tall, many-branched. Leaves three to six inches long, but 
hardly more than an eighth of an inch wide, pointed and involute. 
Panicle slender, four to eight inches long, its short, erect branches in 
fascicles of two to four ; the slim spikelets have the glumes one- 
nerved, the first only about half as long as the second, the lemma 
keeled and hairy, its three awns divergent, the central one extended 
much beyond the other two. 

Means of control the same as for the two preceding grasses. 

MEXICAN DROP-SEED 

Muhlenbergia mexicdna, Trin. 

Other English names: Meadow Muhlenbergia, Wood-grass, Knot- 
root Grass. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by creeping root- 
stocks. 

Time of bloom : August to September. 

Seed-time : September to October. 

Range : New Brunswick and Ontario to the Dakotas and southward 
to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Habitat : Low ground meadows and pastures, woodlands, and banks 
of streams. 

When growing along the sides of swiftly flowing streams, the 
strong, creeping, knotted, and scaly rootstocks of this grass are 
often of much service in binding the soil and preserving it from 
washing, but it is otherwise of very little value. If cut or grazed 
while very young, it makes good hay and forage ; but it soon 
becomes hard, wiry, and innutritions, and cattle will not eat it. 

Stems smooth, two to three feet high, often branching at the 
base, usually decumbent and taking root at the lower joints. 
Leaves four to six inches long, less than a quarter-inch wide, rough 
to the touch ; on the branches they are much smaller and more 



44 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



crowded. Flowering panicles terminal on the culms and the many 
branches, two to six inches long, very slender and compact and 
usually partly enclosed in the upper sheaths. 

Means of control 

In fields and meadows, drainage and thorough cultivation of the 
ground are necessary in order to displace this grass. 




Fig. 18. — Nimble 
Will (Muhlenbergia 
Schreberi). X \. 



NIMBLE WILL, DROP-SEED GRASS 

Muhlenbergia Schreberi, J. F. Gmel. 
{Muhlenbergia diffusa, Schreber.) 

Other English name: Wire-grass. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and 
by rooting at the joints. 

Time of bloom: August to September. 

Seed-time : September to October. 

Range : From Maine to Minnesota and south- 
ward to Kansas, Texas, and Florida. 

Habitat: Lawns, pastures, and meadows. 



A low, slender, branching, almost creeping 
grass which grows on dry hills and in woods 
and shady places about dwellings. When 
young it is much liked by all kinds of stock, 
but it soon becomes so dry and wiry that no 
animal will eat it, and its tough, fibrous, inter- 
lacing roots make a sod which is very difficult 
to break up. 

Stems ten inches to two feet long, some- 
what flattened, usually prostrate at the base 
and often rooting at the lower joints, erecting 
the flowering stalks. Sheaths loose and 
smooth, the leaves two to four inches long but 
hardly more than an eighth of an inch wide 
and rough to the touch. Panicle very slen- 
der, two to six inches long, weak and bend- 
ing; glumes of the spikelet very minute, the 
lower one often lacking ; the lemma is rough, 
strongly nerved, tipped with an awn, and 



GRAMINEAE {GRASS FAMILY) 



45 



I closely enfolds the seed until ripe, when it drops to the ground 
entire. (Fig. 18.) 

Means of control 

Where the ground can be cultivated without danger of loss from 
washing, the sod should be broken up and put to a tilled crop before 
reseeding with clover or grasses of a better quality. 



MARSH FOXTAIL 

Alopeciirus geniculdtus, L. 

Other English names: Bent Foxtail, 
Water Foxtail, False Timothy. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates 
by seeds and by taking root at 
the lower joints. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time : July to September. 

Range: Newfoundland to British 
Columbia, southward throughout 
the United States ; also in Europe 
and Asia. 

Habitat: Moist meadows, banks of 
streams, and ditches ; often trouble- 
some in damp cultivated ground. 



A slender, low-growing grass, with 
the habit of forming ^' knees" and 
rooting at the lower joints ; it is 
said to be nutritious grazing when 
young and tender, but yields a very 
small amount of hay to the acre, 
and the hay is of poor, harsh quality. 

Culms eight to eighteen inches 
tall, smooth, simple or sparingly 
branched, erect above the decumbent 
base. Sheaths shorter than the in- 
ternodes, the upper one usually in- 
flated ; leaves rough, two to six 
inches long and hardly an eighth of 
an inch wide. Spikes dense, cylin- 
drical, one to three inches long and 




Fig. 19. — Marsh Foxtail (Ala- 
pecurus geniculatus) . X \. 



46 



QR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 



about a third of an inch in diameter; spikelets one-flowered, 
flattened, the glumes equal, united at base, obtuse, with hairy 
keels ; the lemma much shorter, obtuse, and smooth, the awn 
attached slightly below the middle and bent, the portion exserted 
being usually twice as long as the glumes. (Fig. 19.) 



Mea7is of control 

Drain the ground and follow with a season of intensive cultiva- 
tion and fertilization before reseeding heavily to better and much 
more profitable grasses, such as red-top and 
timothy. 

SHEATHED RUSH-GRASS 

Sporobolus vaginifibrus, Wood 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to August. 
Seed-time: August to September. 
Range : Maine to South Dakota, southward 

to Florida and Texas. 
Habitat : Dry, sterile fields ; waste places. 



A thin, dry, and worthless grass which 
should not be tolerated where anything 
better can be made to grow. Culms 
tufted, fifteen to twenty inches tall, slender, 
smooth, divergent, or sometimes erect. 
Sheaths about half as long as the internodes, 
loose and inflated; leaves short, less than 
an eighth of an inch wide, smooth beneath, 
rough at base above, involute toward the 
point. Panicles very numerous, included and 
partly concealed in all the upper sheaths, 
the terminal one only being usually exserted, 
one to two inches long; spikelets thin, the 
glumes unequal, long-pointed, smooth, the 
lower one shorter ; lemma rough and hairy 
and exceeded in length by the palea which 
is very sharp-pointed. The seed is freely 




Fig. 20. — Sheathed 
Rush-grass {Sporobolus 
vaginiflorus) . X \. 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 47 

self-sown as it ripens, the spikelets dropping entire from the axis. 

(Fig. 20.) 

Means of control 

Cultivate and fertilize the ground, furnishing humus in order to 
enable it to retain moisture and support forage of a profitable 
quality. 

SMALL RUSH-GRASS 

Sporoholus Jieglectiis, Nash. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to August. 

Seed-tune: August to September. 

Range : New Brunswick to the Dakotas, southward to Virginia and 

Texas. 
Habitat : Sterile and sandy fields ; waste places. 

Similar to the preceding species, but even smaller and more 
worthless. Culms tufted, six inches to a foot in height, usually 
decumbent to the first joint and then erect, smooth, often much 
branched. Sheaths much inflated, rather more than half the 
length of the internodes ; leaves only about one line wide, smooth 
below, rough at base above, with very attenuate point. Panicles 
very slender and almost completely enclosed and hidden in the 
sheaths, even the terminal one partly so. Spikelet about a tenth 
of an inch long, the glumes, lemma, and palea all nearly equal, 
smooth, acute, thin in texture, white and shining ; sowing itself 
when ripe by dropping entire to the ground. 

Means of control the same as for the preceding plant. 

SMUT-GRASS 

Sporobolus indicus, R. Br. 

Other English names: Indian Rush Grass, Indian Drop-seed. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Virginia to Arkansas, southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, and waste places. 

This grass came from the tropics and is common in all the warmer 
regions of the world. It is good forage only when very young, the 



48 GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 

stems soon becoming very hard and the slender panicles often 
overgrown with a black fungus, whence the common name. Cattle 
will not touch it when other food can be found. 

Culms thickly tufted, strong and wiry, two to four feet tall, 
erect, smooth, simple or occasionally branched. Sheaths but 
little shorter than the internodes, the ligule a ring of fine, short 
hairs ; leaves six inches to a foot long but less than a quarter- 
inch wide, smooth and flat. Panicle much elongated, slim, spike- 
like, often half the entire height of the plant. Spikelets about a 
tenth of an inch long, densely crowded on the erect branchlets of the 
panicle ; they are smooth, shining, the glumes obtuse, very unequal, 
the lower one shorter and only about half the length of the third 
scale or lemma, which is acute and exceeds the obtuse palea. 

Means of control 

Put the land under thorough cultivation for a season in order to 
destroy the perennial roots before reseeding heavily with grass or 
clover of good quality. 

WILD OATS 

Avena fdtua, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to July. 

Seed-time : July to August. 

Range: All parts of the country, but most abundant and trouble- 
some in the grain-growing sections of the Canadian provinces and 
in the United States from Minnesota to Oregon and California. 

Habitat : All soils ; fields of cereal grains, flax, and the large-seeded 
grasses. 

Sowing Wild Oats is proverbially a bad thing to do, but the wide 
distribution of this weed is almost entirely due to the practice of 
allowing it to enter the soil with its betters. Once there, it is not 
an easy task to get it out again. It has a number of bad traits 
which render it particularly obnoxious in grain fields : it thrives 
best under the field conditions best suited to the growth of cereals ; 
its seeds ripen irregularly, but usually before those of the grain 
with which it grows, and drop easily from the stalk as soon as ripe ; 
the seeds have long vitality, and one fouling of the ground will last 
for several seasons. The plant adapts itself to the widest differ- 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



49 



ences of soil and climate, from Dakota flax fields to southern Cali- 
fornia wheat fields. The stiff and twisted awns are frequently 
injurious to animals that eat them, causing serious irritation in 
mouth, nostrils, and digestive tract ; also, the hard skins and thick 
hulls of the seeds sometimes permit of their passing unharmed 
through the intestines to be sown with 
the droppings. (Fig. 21.) 

Wild Oats look much like the culti- 
vated grain, the culms growing in tufts, 
two to four feet tall, with long, smooth, 
green leaves about a half-inch wide, and 
loose, open seed-panicles six to ten 
inches long, the spikelets pendulous, the 
glumes nearly equal, slightly ridged, 
smooth and pointed. But the lemmas 
or hulls that enclose the seed are, in the 
cultivated plant, smooth and thin ; those 
of the Wild Oat are larger, much 
thicker, covered with stiff, brown hairs, 
and have a ring of rigid, brown hairs at 
base ; they bear a stiff awn about an 
inch long, which is both twisted and 
bent; the awns of the cultivated oat 
are much shorter and not so stiff. 
These crooked and bristly awns are able 
to cling to the wool of sheep and to 
the insides of grain-sacks, which helps 
the seeds to find new homes ; when 
dampened they relax, and twist again 
when dry, so boring easily into the soil. 
Wild Oats will germinate and the young 
plant force its way to air and sunlight, even when buried four 
or five inches deep in the ground. 




Fig. 



21. — Wild Oats (Avena 
fatua). X \. 



Means of control 



Sow clean seed. No matter what its cost, it cannot be so expen- 
sive as the fouling of a whole grain crop, sometimes to such a degree 



50 OR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 

as to suffer a dockage in the market of one to fifteen pounds to the 
bushel. And it is to be remembered that the soil on which such a 
crop grew is also damaged and below grade while the weed is its 
tenant. If a field is newly infested and the plants are not too 
numerous to make the job impracticable, hand-pulling and burning, 
before the hardening of the seed, is not too great a price to pay for 
its complete and prompt extermination. But if left until harvest, 
stubbles should immediately be plowed, very shallow, so as to induce 
germination of seeds in the soil, the growth being either grazed off 
or plowed under for humus. In the spring, plow more deeply and 
put in a hoed crop. Or a crop of sowed corn or rape may be grown 
and used for soiling or pasturage. Or, if such crops as winter 
wheat or rye are to be grown, summer-fallow the land, harrowing 
it well about every week or ten days until time to sow the rye or the 
wheat. Leave cultivated oats out of the rotation of crops until the 
wild plants are entirely destroyed. When Wild Oats show them- 
selves in a hay field, no stress of weather nor pressure of other work 
should be allowed to interfere with the cutting of the crop before 
the Wild Oats are out of the "dough stage" of the seeds. The 
plant makes excellent hay when cut green. 

WILD OAT-GRASS 

Danthonia spicdta, Beauv. 

Other English names: Poverty-grass, Bonnet-grass, Wire-grass, 

Wildcat Grass, Turkey-strip, Old Fog. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Ti?ne of bloom : June to July. 
Seed-time: July to August. 
Range: Eastern part of the United States and Canada, westward 

to the Dakotas, southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 
Habitat: Dry, sterile, or rocky soil. 

This miserable little grass seems best contented when making 
some hard, worn-out meadow look shabby and miserable. Its 
name of "Poverty Grass" fits it well, for its presence seems to be 
a sure indication of poverty of soil. The grass itself is dry and 
tasteless, worth nothing either as hay or as pasture. 

Roots fibrous and clustered, the hard, smooth, wiry stems 
nearly naked, most of the short, slim, curly leaves being gathered 



GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 



51 



in a tuft at their base, the few on the stems small, stiffly erect, and 
involute. The hard, thin little seed is covered with a hairy lemma 
and armed with a bristly, bent, and twisted 
awn, like that of the real Wild Oat but much 
smaller. Usually the seeds ripen and fall 
before the hay is cut, and after this the stems 
and leaves turn dry and brown and look un- 
sightly. (Fig. 22.) 



Meajis of control 

The presence of the weed is a sign of ex- 
hausted fertility, and the best remedy is to 
enrich and cultivate the ground before reseeding 
heavily with clover to be plowed under for 
humus. When the soil is in a condition to 
retain moisture and support the growth of better 
plants, the weed will be crowded out. 

BERMUDA GRASS 

Cynodon Ddctylon, Pers. 
{Capriola Ddctylon, Kuntze.) 

Other English names : Scutch Grass, Dog's-tooth 

Grass, Wire Grass. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by stolons, 

or runners which put forth roots at the joints. 

Rarely by seeds. 
Time of hloom: July to August. 
Seed-time: August to September. But no seed 

is produced in the United States except in the 

most southern parts. 
Range : Southern part of the United States, north 

as far as Maryland, and westward to the 

Pacific Coast. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, and waste places. 



Fig. 22. — WHd 
Oat-grass (Dantho- 
nia spicatd). X ^. 



This is a tropical grass, subject to winterkilling north of the 
altitude of Virginia. It prefers warm, sandy soil, and droughts 
that kill other grasses harm it not at all. Only in cultivated ground 
is it a weed, but there its creeping habit of growth makes it a very 
bad one, extremely hard to destroy, particularly in cotton fields 



52 



GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 



and other hoed crops. But it is the most valuable of southern 
grasses for lawns, meadows, and pastures, and on the levees, road 
embankments, and stream sides it is the best thing possible to bind 
and hold the soil in place. For such purpose it is usually started 
by passing a quantity of the plants through 
a feed cutter and sowing the pieces, every 
joint of which will probably strike root 
and make a new plant. (Fig. 23.) 

It is small and low, the stems four inches 
to a foot tall, slender, slightly flattened, 
very much branched, becoming stiff and 
wiry as they mature. Leaves smooth, flat, 
stiff, light green, only two to four inches 
in length but very numerous. Sheaths 
smooth, the ligule a ring of white hairs. 
The sheaths overlap and are crowded at the 
base of the stalks and along the stolons. 
When the flowering stalks do appear, the 
heads are divided into four or five "fingers" 
which are shorter and thicker than those 
of the real finger, or crab, grass {Digitaria). 

Means of control 

The plant is a lover of heat and sun- 
light and will not thrive in the shade. 
Therefore, when a meadow or a pasture 
is wanted for a different crop, it can be 
smothered out by a thick growth of taller 
plants, such as cow-peas, sorghum, or 
millet, which will at the same time yield a 
Fig. 23. — Bermuda profitable crop of hay. In latitude where 
?o^r^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^«^^^- a "cold snap" in winter is sufficiently 
biting, the roots may be killed by expos- 
ing them to freeze, using a good, sharp, turning plow and mak- 
ing the furrow as shallow as possible, for the roots are very near the 
surface. The hard, wiry, interlacing stems of this grass make 
tilled crops infested with it very difficult of cultivation, requiring 
much hand labor with the hoe. But in most localities it leaves no 




GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



53 



seed to infest the soil, and one or two seasons of careful work 
should conquer it. 

GOOSE-GRASS 

Eleuslne indica, Gaertn. 

Other English names : Yard-grass, Crab-grass, Wire-grass, Crow-foot 
Grass. Indian Eleusine. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range : In nearly all parts of North America except the far North. 

Habitat: Farmyards, roadsides, and waste places; often trouble- 
some in lawns. 

A coarse grass that came to us from 
India and behaves as though domesticated. 
It grows from clustered, fibrous roots, the 
culms six inches to two feet long, flattened, 
decumbent at base, from which there are 
usually several branches. Sheaths loose, 
overlapping, compressed, smooth but hairy 
at the throat; ligule very short and mi- 
nutely toothed, blades three inches to a 
foot long, often crowded at the base of 
the culm, rather thick, pale green. Spikes 
two to ten, digitate at the end of the stalk 
or one or two below near the top, one to 
three inches long ; spikelets appressed, 
three- to five-flowered ; glumes unequal, 
rough-keeled. Seeds black and wrinkled. 
(Fig. 24.) 

Means of control 

In yards and waste places the grass 
should be hoe-cut or hand-pulled before 
it develops seeds. In lawns, a few drops 
of crude carbolic acid squirted into the 
heart of a tuft with a common machine 
oil-can will kill it, without defacing 

the smoothness- of the sward as a hoe fjq 24. Goose-grass 

would do. (Eleusine indica) . X i. 




54 GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 

HAIRY SPEAR-GRASS 

Eragrostis pilosa, Beauv. 

Other English names : Tufted Spear-grass, Slender Meadow-grass. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Maine to Minnesota, southward to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat: Fields and waste places. Sandy or gravelly soil. 

Stems growing in tufts from fibrous roots, six to eighteen inches 
tall, smooth, slender, erect or decumbent at base, diffusely branched. 
Sheaths shorter than the internodes, smooth or sometimes sparingly 
hairy at the throat, the ligule a ring of short hairs ; blades one to 
five inches long, flat, about a tenth of an inch wide, rough above, 
smooth below. Panicle three to six inches in length, with many 
slender, spreading branches, having minute tufts of hair in the 
axils, particularly the lower ones. Spikelets very small, hardly a 
line wide, five to eighteen-flow^ered. Seeds often an impurity of 
other small grass seeds. 

Means of control 

Prompt cutting before the formation of seed. This grass makes 
tolerably good hay, but there is so small a quantity to the acre that 
it is an economy to supersede it with forage of a better quality. 

STINK-GRASS 

Eragrostis megastdchya, Link. 
(Eragrostis major, Host.) 

Other English names: Strong-scented Meadow-grass, Pungent 

Meadow-grass, Snake-grass, Candy-grass. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: July to October. 
Range : In southern Canada and in most parts of the United States. 

Especially troublesome in the Southwest. 
Habitat: Fields and waste places. 

A very handsome grass, but offensive to grazing animals both 
as green forage and as hay. Culms ten inches to three feet high, 



GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



55 



somewhat weak and flaccid, often decumbent at the lower joints, 
very profusely branched. Sheaths shorter than the internodes, 
the ligule a ring of short hairs ; blades three 
to ten inches long, a quarter-inch to a half- 
inch wide, flat. Panicles three to ten inches 
long, w^ith many spreading branches, densely 
flowered, grayish green. Spikelets ten- to 
forty-flowered, the florets closely imbricated, 
the glumes acute and keeled. Seeds reddish, 
very small, when ripe dropping readily from 
the spikelets and seeding the soil for the crop 
of the next year; a common impurity of 
timothy and other small grass seeds. (Fig. 25.) 

Means of control 

Small areas, in yards, roadsides, and waste 
places, should be hoe-cut or hand-pulled 
while the grass is in first bloom. Hay from 
rankly infested meadows, though not so 
strong-scented as the green grass, is wiry 
and weedy, and of such inferior quality that 
it is most profitable w^hen turned under the 
ground for the purpose of fertilizing a better 
crop. 

CHESS OR CHEAT 




Brbmus secalinus, L. 



Wheat-thief, Williard's 



Fig. 25. — Stink- 
Grass (Eragrostis me- 
gastachya). X i- 

Propagates by seeds. 



Other English names 

Brome Grass. 
Introduced. Annual or winter annual 
Time of hloom : June to July. 
Seed-time : July to August. 

Range: Throughout North America wherever grain is grown. 
Habitat: Grain fields, waste places. 



Probably the first settler who planted a wheat field in America 
sowed some seeds of Chess with it and the practice still continues. 
Some farmers believed that wheat changed into Chess as it grew, 
but it is needless to say that such a miracle never happened. The 



56 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



two plants are not even very closely related, but belong to quite 
distinct tribes in the Grass Family, and each comes true from its 
own seed. But Chess seeds, when buried in the soil, retain their 
vitality for years, and their coming up in a field where clean grain 
had been sown might be thus accounted for. When sown with 

spring crops it often fails to mature 
its seeds, and is therefore most fre- 
quently found growing with the fall- 
sown crops of rye and winter wheat. 
Grain containing Chess is somewhat 
difficult to clean, and if ground with 
wheat the flour is dark-colored and 
has a narcotic quality which ruins it 
commercially. Consequently such 
wheat is very sharply docked in the 
market. It is a most prolific weed. 
Professor Hunt, of Cornell Univer- 
sity, sowed one pound of it on one- 
twentieth of an acre and reaped 
ninety-nine pounds of seed ; and as 
they are quite small and light, there 
are nearly as many seeds in a pound 
as there are wheat kernels in a 
bushel. (Fig. 26.) 

Stems two to three feet tall, 
erect, smooth, and simple. Sheaths 
smooth, strongly nerved, shorter 
than the internodes. Leaves three 
to ten inches long, slightly hairy 
above but smooth beneath, and flat. 
Panicle loose and open, its branches 
somewhat drooping. Spikelets smooth, containing five to fifteen 
seeds, about a quarter-inch long, the lemmas adhering like oats, 
but distinguished from that grain by smaller size and darker 
color ; they are also somewhat thicker and inrolled at the 
margins ; awns, when present, usually short and straight but 
weak and soft, sometimes more or less flexuose. 




Fig. 26. — Chess or Cheat (Bro- 
mus secalinus). X \. 



GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 



57 



Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Chess is smaller and lighter than wheat, and 
care in cleaning should remove it. But if it is suspected that a few 
seeds remain, stir the wheat in a barrel of water just before sowing ; 
the Chess will rise to the top. If the grain is treated with formalin 
for the purpose of destroying suspected spores of smut, the Chess 
may be removed at the same time. When the weed makes a first 
appearance in clean soil, under no circumstances let it be fouled for 
years by allowing the Chess to ripen and scatter its seeds. Hand- 
pulling and burning is worth while in such an instance, even though 
the quantity be so large as to make the task rather strenuous. 
Stubbles where seeds have matured should have surface cultivation 
after harvest, in order to cause them to germinate ; 
then plow them under, and put no more grain on 
that land until a hoed crop of some kind needing 
very thorough tillage has had a place in the 
rotation. 



SOFT CHESS 

Brbmus hordedceus, L. 



Propa- 



Introdueed. Annual or winter annual. 

gates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to Julj''. 
Seed-time : July to August. 
Range: Nova Scotia to Virginia, and westward 

to the Mississippi River. Not common, but 

"becoming frequent." 
Habitat: Fields and waste places. 



Soft Chess differs from Cheat in being smaller, 
the culms one to two feet tall, erect, slender, 
simple. The whole plant is softly hairy, while 
Cheat is smooth. Panicle erect and rather com- 
pact instead of open and drooping, the spikelets 
having shorter pedicels ; these are six- to ten- 
seeded, the glumes covered with soft appressed 
hairs, the lemma, tipped with an awn about as 
long as itself, and straight. (Fig. 27.) 




Fig. 27. — Soft 
Chess {Bromus 



It should be fought in the same manner as the hordeaceus). 



58 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



common Chess, for if allowed to have its way, it may become as 
pernicious as that weed. . 



DOWNY BROME-GRASS 

Bromus tectbrum, L. 

Other English names: Slender Chess, Early Chess. 
Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to July. 
Seed-time: June to August. 

Range : Massachusetts to Indiana, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, 
_ and Mississippi. 

Habitat: Fields and waste places. 

The range of this weed has greatly 
increased of late years. Its early 
season makes it very objectionable, 
as its seeds foul the ground before 
any grain is ripe ; the stems also 
become rough and innutritions very 
early in the season, so that it is a 
damage in hay fields as well as 
among grain. (Fig. 28.) 

Culms one to two feet tall, tufted, 
erect, and very slender. Sheaths 
and blades softly downy, the latter 
flat, three to six inches long. The 
whole plant seems slim and weak, 
the panicle one-sided, like oats, its 
branches slender and thread-like, the 
spikelets pendulous ; these are nu- 
merous, small, the glumes narrow, 
rough-hairy; awn straight, longer 
than the lemma. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production — which 

Downy Bronie-grass means that the grass must be either 

X \. cut or pulled as early as May. 




Fig. 28. 

{Bromus tectorum) 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



59 



Ground largely overgrown with this grass should be put under 
cultivation and then be reseeded with other and better forage plants. 



PERENNIAL RYE-GRASS 

Lolium perenne, L. 

Other English names: Ray-grass, Common Darnel. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to 3\Ay. 
Seed-time : July to August. 

Range: Nearly throughout the northern United States 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, pastures, 
and roadsides. 



The seeds of this grass closely resem- 
ble those of the much more expensive 
and valuable Meadow Fescue and are 
sometimes used by unscrupulous dealers 
in substitution or adulteration. It 
cannot properly be called a weed, 
though in this country it often proves 
unenduring and unprofitable, particu- 
larly in dry seasons, on light soils. It 
is a grass that requires moist ground 
and a cool, moist climate to thrive well, 
which is the reason it is so highly 
esteemed in the northern latitudes such 
as England and Scotland. Experiments 
at Woburn demonstrated that its nutri- 
tive value is very low and its aftermath 
the lowest of all cultivated grasses. 
When allowed to seed it is very ex- 
haustive to the soil. (Fig. 29.) 

Culm ten to thirty inches tall, erect 
and smooth. Sheaths shorter than the 
internodes ; leaves flat and smooth, two 
to five inches long. Spike terminal, 
three to eight inches long, the spikelets 
set with the edge to the rachis, the 




Fig. 29. — Perennial Rye- 
grass {Lolium perenne) . X j. 



60 



GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



empty glume at the base slightly shorter than the spikelet, a character 
which distinguishes it from its annual relative the Poison Darnel, 
which has the subtending empty glume longer than the spikelet. 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Prevent the production of seed by early cutting. 
Though perennial, it is rather short-lived, and if not allowed to seed, 
may soon be crowded out of the ground by other and .more profit- 
able grasses. 

DARNEL 

Lblium. temuUntum, L. 

Other English nnmes: Poison Darnel, 
Bearded Darnel, White Darnel, Ivray, 
Poison Rye-grass, Annual Ray-grass. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by 
seeds. 

Time of bloom : Late June to July. 

Seed-time: July to August. 

Range: Locally in most of the United 
States as far south as Georgia ; abun- 
dant on the Pacific Coast ; occasional 
in Canada from New Brunswick to 
Manitoba ; very troublesome in Red 
River Valley. 

Habitat : Grain fields and waste places. 



Darnel is now said to be poisonous 
only wdien diseased, its toxic properties 
being due to a fungus which has recently 
been discovered in the tissues under the 
seed coats. It is reputed to be most 
dangerous in wet seasons or when grown 
on wet soil. When ground with wheat, 
bread made from the flour is likely to 
cause *' eruptions, trembling, and con- 
fusion of sight in man and flesh-eat- 
ing animals"; and if the seeds are 
malted with barley, the ale or beer 
^'causes intoxication very suddenly"; 
but the plant is said not to be harmful in 
any way to grazing animals, and makes 




Fig. 30. — Darnel (Lolium 
temidentum) . X \. 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 61 

excellent hay when cut before seeding. Poultry also eat the 
seeds without any bad effects. (Fig. 30.) 

Culms two to four feet tall, simple, erect, smooth. Sheaths 
overlapping, smooth ; blades six inches to a foot long, about a 
quarter-inch wide, smooth below but somewhat rough above, 
deep green. Spikes four to eight inches long, the rachis flexuous 
and grooved on its sides, the spikelets sessile and attached to the 
rachis with their edges resting in the alternate curves ; spikelets 
five- to seven-flowered, the lemma sometimes awned, sometimes 
not ; the glume at the base of each spikelet equaling or exceeding 
it in length, looking like a bract in the axil of which the spikelet 
sits. Seed slender, brown, boat-shaped, with a deep groove on the 
inner side, appearing somewhat like a slim, hard grain of wheat ; 
the palea is closely adherent to it, making it about as heavy as a 
kernel of wheat and difficult to separate from that grain when 
threshed with it. 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Grain containing Darnel should not be milled 
but should be fed to cattle or poultry ; or the crop should be cut 
green and used as hay. Darnel-infested land should not again be 
used for grain until the rotation has included some cultivated 
crops. 

QUACK-GRASS 

Agropyron repens, Beauv. 

Other ^ English names : Couch-grass, Wheat-grass, Scutch-grass, 

Twitch-grass, Quitch-grass, Dog-grass, Devil's Grass, Whickens. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by creeping, 

jointed rootstocks. 
Time of hloom. : June. 
Seed-time: July. 
Range: The whole of North America except the extreme north. 

Most injurious in the United States from New England westward 

to Minnesota. 
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

If it were put to a vote, perhaps most farmers would name 
Quack-grass as the most obnoxious of its tribe ; yet it makes good 
hay and two crops a year of it, is sweet pasture grazing which cattle 



62 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 



eat greedily, and its matted ^' couch" of interlacing rootstocks make 
it an unsurpassed soil-binder in steep gullies or on road embank- 
ments where the ground must be guarded against ''washouts." 
But it is its very tenacity of life that makes it 
such a pest when it gets into cultivated 
ground. If it could be kept in its place, or 
were not so hard to kill when it gets out of 
bounds, it would be a welcome friend. 

The mischievous part of the plant is its 
jointed, branching, underground stem, or root- 
stock, which is capable of budding a new plant 
at every joint and taking such entire posses- 
sion of the soil that other plants growing with 
it are so crowded and starved as to yield very 
\ poor crops or none at all. The same joints 

I from which the buds shoot above ground also 

x send down clusters of fine, fibrous roots which 
absorb most of the plant-food and moisture. 
Culms one to three feet tall, with flat, ashy 
green leaves, smooth beneath but rough above, 
three inches to a foot long and about a third 
of an inch wide ; sheaths smooth, shorter than 
the internodes. Fruiting spike erect, three to 
eight inches long, with spikelets sessile and 
alternately placed in each notch of the rachis 
with the broad side turned toward it ; each 
contains three to seven seeds, which are about 
as long as a grain of wheat but not nearly so 
plump. Indeed the whole spike looks some- 
what like a slender head of wheat, and the 
grass is a near relative of that noble grain. 
The glumes of some seeds have a short awn, 
or beard, and others have none ; they do not 
shell readily, and often the entire spikelet 
breaks from the stalk. Too often the seed is an impurity of 
wheat, rye, barley, clover, and other grasses, particularly brome- 
grass and timothy. Also the plant is often infected with the 
fungous disease known as "stem rust" of wheat. (Fig. 31.) 




Fig. 31. — Quack- 
grass (Agropyron 
repens). X j. 



GR AMINE AE (GRASS FAMILY) 63 

Means of control 

There is no easy way to subdue Quack-grass ; but it can be done, 
and in a single season, without loss of the use of the ground. It 
must be remembered that the storehouse of the plant is its creeping 
rootstock, the material for the growth of which comes from the food 
assimilated b}^ the green leaves, therefore no green leaves must he 
allowed to develop. Professor Beal, the noted botanist of the 
Michigan Experiment Station, outlines the following plan, based on 
long practical use : " If convenient, pasture closely for a whole 
growing season, which prevents the production of new, thrifty 
rootstocks, then, if the sod be well turned under deep, rolled and 
harrowed, much of the grass will be killed at once. Ordinarily I 
plow late in the fall or very early in the spring, rain or shine, wet or 
dry, or even in June, and cultivate with a shovel-toothed cultivator 
every three days till the middle of June or later, if starting the work 
later. Rarely, if the weather be wet and hot, cultivate every two 
and a half days. Keep all green leaves from showing themselves. 
Do not delay to see green leaves. A harrow that does not cut 
off the stems below the surface of the ground is not efficient." A 
late crop of corn can be grown on this land and the last spears of 
the grass killed in its cultivation. 

When the grass takes possession of cultivated ground its root- 
stocks are usually much deeper in the soil than in pastures and 
meadows. An early fall plowing, with the furrow turned just deep 
enough to cut the matted rootstocks free from the subsoil (usually 
about six inches), followed by toothed harrowing to work the soil 
free from the rootstocks so that they may be raked into piles to be 
dried and burned or thoroughly rotted in a compost heap, is another 
good way to fight Quack-grass. Two bouts of such fall plowing 
and harrowing, raking, and burning, the second a little deeper and 
crosswise of the first, with early and careful cultivation in the spring, 
followed by a hoed crop thoroughly tilled until midsummer, will 
clean out the weed ; and the enlarged yield of the crop due to the 
needful extra cultivation will recompense the increase of care and 
labor. 

Small areas of the pest may be smothered to death by being covered 
with boards, or spreading thick with manure or straw (not less 
than a foot deep and well packed down so as to exclude air), or with 



64 GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 

tarred paper pegged down so that the wind cannot stir it. Two or 
three months of such exclusion from air and sunHght will leave the 
rootstocks withered and dead. 

Quack-grass rootstocks (not the rootlets) are much used in the 
drug trade. At present this country imports from Europe about a 
quarter-million pounds of it annually, at a cost of three to seven 
cents a pound. Since no country grows more Quack-grass than the 
United States, it would seem needless to go abroad for it. To pre- 
pare the plant for market, the smooth, pale yellow rootstocks should 
be gathered in the spring, carefully washed, and all the fine rootlets 
and buds removed from the joints, after which the rootstocks may 
be cut into short pieces on a feed cutter and thoroughly dried. 

WILD BARLEY 

Hordeum juhatum, L. 

Other English names: Squirrel-tail, Flicker-tail, Skunk-tail, Tickle 

Grass. 
Native. Biennial or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom. June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range : Labrador to Alaska, southward as far as Maryland, Kansas, 

and California. Most troublesome in the West. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, pastures, and waste places. 

Because of its beauty this plant is sometimes used for orna- 
mental purposes ; but it never should be, lest it spread to do injury 
where it is not wanted. The long, barbed, reddish-golden awns 
become very brittle when ripe, and break into small bits which 
work between the teeth and into the jaws of animals that eat the 
grass, causing such ulcerations and swellings as sometimes to be 
mistaken for the disease called "Big Jaw" or ''Lumpy Jaw" 
(Actinomycosis) ; they get into the nostrils and into the eyes, some- 
times causing blindness ; they also work into the tissues of the 
throat and the alimentary canal, setting up an irritation which 
may end in ulceration and death. The injury to horses, cattle, and 
sheep from this cause is great, particularly in the West. (Fig. 32.) 

The grass grows in thick tufts from fibrous and clustered roots. 
Culms ten to thirty inches tall, smooth, erect or sometimes decum- 
bent at the lower joints. Sheaths shorter than the internodes; 



GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



65 




blades two to five inches long, flat, rough, and grayish green ; 

spikes nodding, three to five inches long, the spreading awns making 

them nearly as broad ; spikelets in threes, on opposite sides of the 

flattened jointed rachis ; only the central one produces a seed, the 

lateral flowers being sterile; glumes equal, rigid, 

narrow and bristle-pointed, placed at the side of 

the compressed spikelet which is placed with its 

back against the spike ; the lemma of the fertile 

flower is armed with a long, sharply barbed awn, 

and the sterile flowers have three apiece, so that 

each spikelet has seven awns, all barbed. These 

rough-awned seeds cling to the hair and the wool 

of animals, and are carried by the ^dnd, and by 

the water of irrigating ditches, along which the 

pest loves to grow — although it adapts itself to 

almost any soil, even the dry, alkaline regions 

where few other grasses thrive. 



Means of control 

Mowing the grass so early and so frequently as 
to prevent the formation of the barbed seed- 
heads. If the infestation is new and the plants 
are not too numerous, hand-pull and destroy 
them. Large areas may be burned over, killing 
the plants and any seeds on the surface. Culti- 
vation of the ground will exterminate the weed, 
care being taken to leave no stragglers along fence 
rows and ditches. 



LITTLE BARLEY 



Hordeum pusillum, Nutt. 



Fig. 32.— 
Wild Barley or 
Squirrel-tail 
(Hordeum juba- 
turn). X \. 



Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: Late May to June. 

Seed-time: June to July. 

Range: Ontario to British Columbia, southward to Arkansas, 

Texas, and California. On the Atlantic Coast from Virginia to 

Florida. 
Habitat: Plains; has a preference for saline soil. 



GR AMINE AE {GRASS FAMILY) 



Little Barley is not such a dangerous pest as Squirrel-tail-grass, 

but it makes a similar growth in tufts and crowds out better forage ; 

also, its early bloom causes it to become 

dry and worthless just when green food 

is most needed. (Fig. 33.) 

Culms six to fifteen inches tall, smooth, 
erect or decumbent at the base. Sheaths 
loose, smooth, shorter than the inter- 
nodes, the upper often enclosing the base 
of the spike ; blades one to three inches 
long, erect, and rough. Spikes erect, one 
to three inches in length ; spikelets clus- 
tered in threes, the central one fertile, the 
lateral pair abortive ; glumes of the fertile 
spikelet dilated above the base and taper- 
ing into a slender awn, rough but not 
barbed, equaling the awned lemma. 

Means of control 

Early and frequent cutting in order to 
prevent the development of seed. 

WALL BARLEY 

Hordeum murinum, L. 

Other English names: Waybent, Barley- 
grass. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Tiyne of hloom : June to July. 
Seed-time: July to August. 
Rayige : California and Oregon ; also in 
Fig, 33. Little Bar- Atlantic States along the coast near sea- 

ley {Hordeum pusillum). ports. 

^ *• Habitat : Fields and waste places. 




A European relative of the Squirrel-tail-grass, the roughened 
awns of which are nearly as unpleasant to grazing animals as those 
of the native plant. Culms six inches to two feet tall, erect or 
decumbent at base, growing in tufts. Sheaths loose, shorter than 
the internodes on the long stems, overlapping on the shorter ones. 



CYPERACEAE (SEDGE FAMILY) 67 

the upper ones often inflated and enclosing the base of the spike ; 
blades rough, two to six inches long. Spikes two to four inches in 
length, the spikelets in threes with lemmas awned, those of the 
central, fertile flower broader, with hairy margins, the awn nearly 
an inch long ; the lateral ones shorter. 

The weed should be suppressed by cutting so frequently as to 
prevent seed development. 

LOW GALINGALE 

Cyperus didndrus, Terr. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: August to October. 
Seed-time: September to November. 

Range : New Brunswick to western Ontario and Minnesota, south- 
ward to the Carolinas and Kansas. 
Habitat : Wet grasslands and along streams, ponds, and ditches. 

A meadow overgrown with Galingale is not of much value. 
This one is not an aggressive weed, merely coming in where the 
larger, more nutritious grasses have been drowned out. As forage 
it is nearly worthless. It is a small plant, varying from three 
inches to a foot in height, most commonly about six inches, with 
tufted stems or culms, very slender, three-sided, leafy at base, and 
deep green. Leaves hardly a tenth of an inch wide, smooth ; at the 
summit of the stem are three slim, spreading, involucral leaves, or 
bracts, subtending the flower-heads ; these are a cluster of thin, 
flattened spikelets, usually about a half-inch long and either sessile 
on the end of the stem or clustered on the tips of two or three short, 
unequal rays. Scales ovate, obtuse, one-nerved, green with pur- 
plish brown margins or sometimes all brown ; stamens two and 
style two-parted, the cleft tip exserted far beyond the points of the 
scales. Seeds flattened, oblong lens-shape, dull gray. 

Means of control 

Drain the land and put under intensive cultivation for a season 
in order to cause dormant seeds to germinate and be destroyed ; 
reseed heavily with good grasses or clover. 



68 



CYPERACEAE {SEDGE FAMILY) 



NUT-GRASS 

Cyperus rotundus, L, 



Nut Sedge, Coco Sedge, Coco-grass, Hydra 
Propagates by seeds and by tuber-bear- 



Other English names. 

Cyperus. 
Introduced. Perennial. 

ing rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Virginia to Kansas, southward to Florida and Texas. 
Habitat: All soils; troublesome in cultivated crops, especially in 

cotton fields. 

This pest Is said to have been brought into the United States 
among some garden plants from the West Indies, nearly a century 
ago, since when it has spread over a very 
large part of the country where the climate 
is propitious to it, extending along the 
coast as far north as New Jersey. It is 
very difficult to dislodge, experience hav- 
ing shown that "nothing serves so well to 
propagate it as to plow and replow, with 
a view to destroy it," as a planter stated 
in a letter to Dr. Darlington. The smaller 
tubers are sometimes shipped, clinging to 
the roots of garden plants and nursery 
stock, and the seeds are a common im- 
purity of southern grass and clover seed 
and baled hay ; they are hard-coated and 
pass unharmed through the digestive 
tracts of cattle and horses, and such 
manure, without long composting, is a 
menace to the land where it is spread. 
(Fig. 34.) 

The fibrous, scaly rootstocks, which are 
its most mischievous part, are deep-set, 
first forming by descending from the base 
of a young plant, to a depth of six inches 
to a foot or more according to the mellow- 

FiG. 34. — Nut-grass {Cij- ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^i^' ^^^ there forming the first 
perus rotundus). X j. small, round, potato-like tuber, varying 




CYPERACEAE {SEDGE FAMILY) 69 

from the size of a pea to three-fourths of an inch in diameter; 
from this center, horizontal cord-Hke rootstocks are extended 
in every direction, producing new tubers at intervals of two 
to ten or more inches, which immediately send up shoots to 
the surface and begin to throw out their own lateral growths ; 
and so on, indefinitely, provided that the food-producing leaf- 
growth above is permitted to flourish. The leaves appear first in the 
spring, three to six inches long, one-eighth to one-fourth inch wide, 
rather thick, smooth, with mid-vein prominent below and forming 
a slight channel above. Culm slender, smooth, three-sided, six to 
eighteen inches tall, leafless except for three or four involucral bracts 
at its summit, one to four inches long and subtending the umbellate 
cluster of flowers. Rays of the umbel two or three inches long, 
spreading, bearing on the upper part four to nine flowering spikes 
with twelve to forty spikelets ; scales closely imbricated, ovate, 
pointed, dark purplish brown with a green keel and margin ; 
stamens three and style three-cleft, exserted much beyond the tops 
of the scales. The many small achenes are oblong, pointed at 
both ends, three-sided, dull green or brown. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production. Although the weed is very prolific, 
both above and below ground, the growth of flowering stalks is 
most exhaustive to the underground tubers, and if such stalks are 
persistently hoe-cut, before the flowers rnature and sow their 
progeny, the tubers in the soil must gradually yield up their life. 
Both dormant seeds and tubers should be stimulated to active 
growth by frequent stirring of the soil in the fore part of the season, 
but the main battle should come at the time when the plant is 
expending all its resources, above and below, in the development of 
seed, which must not be permitted to come to perfection. This 
intensive, late cultivation should be followed by heavily seeding 
the ground to some winter crop, such as Rye or Winter Vetch or 
Japan Clover, to be used for winter grazing which will keep down 
the Sedge; the crop to be plowed under in the spring for green 
manure. 

Care should be taken that the rootstocks and small tubers are 
not transported to clean land on farm implements. 



CYPERACEAE {SEDGE FAMILY) 



CHUFA 

Cyperus esculentus, L. 

Other English names: Northern Nut-grass, Yellow Nut-grass, 

Yellow Galingale. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by tuber-bearing 

rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range : New Brunswick to Minnesota and Nebraska, southward to 

Florida and Texas ; also on the Pacific Coast from California to 

Alaska. Common in Europe and Asia and in tropical America. 
Habitat: Moist fields, banks of streams, and ditches. 



In the South this plant is frequently cul- 
tivated for pasturing and for fattening hogs in 
autumn, those animals being very fond of its 
sweet, oily, and fleshy tubers. Unlike those 
of the preceding species, the tubers are usually 
clustered very near the parent plant, the scaly 
rootstocks being shorter and, unless the ground 
is very soft, not far below the surface. (Fig. 
35.) 

Culms, stout, fifteen to thirty inches high, 
three-sided, light yellowish green. Leaves 
about the same length, one-fourth to one- 
half inch wide, with heavy mid-vein and 
slightly roughened edges. The involucre has 
three to six leaf-like bracts extending much 
beyond the rays of the umbel, which are often 
compound. Spikes straw-colored or pale yel- 
low-brown, the whole plant being conspicuous 
for its light coloring, plainly visible at a 
distance among grasses. The scales of the 
spikelets are oblong-ovate, appressed at the 
base but loose at the tip, three to five-nerved, 
with narrow scarious margins. Achenes small, 
oblong ovoid, three-sided, light yellowish 
brown. 




Fig. 35. — Chufa 
(Cyperus esculentus). 
Xi. 



CYPERACEAE {SEDGE FAMILY) 71 

Means of control 

Drainage of the ground, followed by clean, late-continued hoe- 
cultivation which will prevent seed production and gradually starve 
the underground growth. Hogs may be of assistance in the be- 
ginning in cleansing a badly infested plot. 



STRAW-COLORED CYPERUS 

Cyperus strigosus, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by tubers. 

Time of bloom: July to Sep- 
tember. 

Seed-time: August to Octo- 
ber. 

Range: Maine to Ontario, 
Minnesota, and Nebraska, 
southward to Florida and 
Texas. 

Habitat : Damp meadows, 
swamps, and along streams. 



This plant is very variable, 
having dwarf varieties and 
others with globose heads ; but 
in any form it is a weed, al- 
most worthless as forage, even 
when young. Ordinarily it 
grows one to three feet tall, 
the three-sided culms rather 
stout, tufted, rising from a 
cluster of hard, corm-like 
tubers. Leaves flat and soft, 
rough-edged, about a quarter- 
inch wide and equaling the 
stem in length ; those forming 
the involucre are much longer 
than the rays of the umbel, 
which are simple or com- 
pound, their sheaths terminat- 
ing in two bristles ; spikelets 




Fig. 



36. — Straw-colored Cyperus (Cy- 
perus strigosus). X k- 



72 



CYPERACEAE {SEDGE FAMILY) 



numerous, flattened, linear, eight to ten-flowered, spreading, in 
loose oblong or ovoid heads ; stamens three ; style three-parted, 
the branched tips exserted ; scales straw-colored, oblong lance- 
shape, strongly nerved, much longer than the slim, three-angled, 
and pointed achene. (Fig. 36.) 



Means of control 

Drainage of the ground, followed by a cultivated crop very 
thoroughly tilled so as to destroy the tuberous rootstocks re- 
seeding heavily to red-top or timothy. 




Fig. 37. — Baldwin's Cyperus 
iCyperus echinatus). X j. 



BALDWIN'S CYPERUS 

Cyperus echinatus, Wood 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by 

seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October, 
Range : Virginia to Missouri, southward 

to Florida and Texas. 
Habitat : Dry, sandy soil ; cultivated 

fields, waste places. 

This Cyperus seems to prefer dry 
and mellow soils, and often makes itself 
troublesome in strawberry and melon 
patches. It springs from short corm- 
like rootstocks, the culms ten inches 
to two feet high, slender, smooth, longer 
than the leaves, which are pale green, 
less than a quarter-inch wide, smooth 
with rough edges ; the involucre has 
five to ten bracts, most of them much 
longer than the umbel ; the latter has 
six to twelve unequal ascending rays, 
the heads globose or slightly oblong, 
usually about a half-inch in diameter; 
spikelets twenty to forty, pale green or 
somewhat yellowish, spreading, lance- 
cylindric or only slightly compressed; 



GYPERACEAE {SEDGE FAMILY) 



73 



scales five to eight, narrowly ovate, thin, appressed, striate, with 
scarious margins ; usually the lowest two and the awl-like one at 
the point of the spikelet are empty. The three-sided, oblong 
achene is only about half the length of the scale. (Fig. 37.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed 'production. Persistent, thorough, and late culti- 
vation is necessary in order to hinder the development and dispersal 
of seeds and to destroy the roots tocks. Partly ripened heads 
should never be plowed under, but should be removed, either to 
compost heap or bonfire. 



MEADOW RUSH 

Scirpus atrovirens, Muhl. 

Other English names: Club Rush, Dark-green Bulrush. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds 
and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: June to July. 

Seed-time: July to August. 

Range : Nova Scotia to the Saskatchewan, 
southward to Georgia and Missouri. 

Habitat : Wet meadows, marshes, and bor- 
ders of streams. 



One of the most widely distributed of 
its tribe and a bad weed in low grass- 
lands, for it is worthless as fodder, either 
green or dry. Culms smooth, obtusely 
triangular, leafy, two to four feet tall. 
Leaves pale green, a quarter-inch to a 
half-inch wide, rough-edged, two or three 
of the upper ones whorled and extending 
above the flower cluster. Umbels com- 
pound, the spikelets densely crowded in 
capitate clusters of ten to thirty at the 
ends of the branched rays ; scales greenish 
brown, oblong-ovate, bristle-pointed ; sta- 
mens three; style three-parted; perianth 
composed of six bristles, downwardly 




Fig. 38. — Meadow Rush 
(Scirpus atrovirens). X |. 



74 



JUNCACEAE {RUSH FAMILY) 



barbed for most of their length but smooth near the base, equal 
to or exceeding the achene in length, the latter being oblong, 
pointed, three-sided, dull brownish yellow. (Fig. 38.) 

Means of control 

Drainage of the land, followed by a cultivated crop given very 
thorough tillage throughout the growing season, in order to prevent 
seed development and to destroy the perennial roots. 



SLENDER RUSH 

Juncus tenuis, Willd. 

Other English names: Wire-grass, Field Rush, Yard Rush. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by 

seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range: Throughout North America 

and most parts of the world. 
Habitat: Lawns, yards, meadows, 

and pastures. 

One usually thinks of marshy, or at 
least damp, ground in connection 
with rushes, but the Slender Rush is 
common everywhere and seems 
equally content whether the ground 
be wet or dry. (Fig. 39.) 

Stems thickly tufted, eight inches 
to two feet tall, extremely thin, round, 
green, wiry, and so elastic that they 
are always erect, no matter how 
much trodden upon by the grazing 
animals, which refuse to eat them. 
They ha^'e a few grassy base leaves 
which dry and wither away as the 
wiry, flowering stems develop. Flowers 
in irregular clusters betw^een two 
Fig. 39. -Slender Rush {Jun- 'o^g, flattened, blade-like leaves at 
cus tenuis), xi the top of the stem; they have six 




JUNCACEAE (RUSH FAMILY) 



75 



sharp-pointed, spreading sepals, a single pistil with style very short, 
and six stamens with anthers much shorter than their filaments. 
Later, each six-pointed perianth forms a cup to hold the tawny, 
ovoid, papery-shelled capsule, filled with small brown seeds which, 
under the lens, are shown to be delicately ridged and cross-lined. 



Means of control 

In lawns and yards the weed is best removed 
by hand-pulling before seed development. In fields, 
small areas may be treated by hoe-cutting, but 
where rankly infested the ground should be cleansed 
by a rotation of cultivated crops and clover. 

COMMON RUSH 

Juncus effusus, L. and its varieties 

Other English names : Soft Rush, Bog Rush. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by 

rootstocks. 
Ti?ne of bloom : June to July. 
Seed-time: July to August. 
Range: Throughout North America. 
Habitat : Marshes, wet meadows, and pastures ; muck 

farms. In the South, a pest in rice fields. 



In any place where the soil is constantly moist 
some variety of this rush is likely to be found, and 
it holds its ground most sturdily. It grows in 
dense tufts or tussocks from stout branching root- 
stocks, the leafless stems one to three feet tall, 
erect but very soft and pliant, round, green, pithy, 
and about a twelfth of an inch in diameter. Flowers 
very numerous in dense, spreading cymose clusters 
which seem to burst from the sides of the stems, 
the long subtending bracts appearing like continued 
stems ; each individual flower has also just below 
it a small, ovate, pointed bract ; perianth six- 
pointed, green at first, but soon turning brown ; 
stamens three, with anthers and filaments about 



Fig. 40. — 
Common or 
Soft Rush (Ju7i- 
cus effusus, var. 
Pylaei). X \. 



76 



LILIACEAE {LILY FAMILY) 



the same length ; style very short. Capsules bluntly oblong, 
three-celled, filled with fine brown seed, which is widely sown by 
the wind. (Fig. 40.) 

Means of control 

Drainage of the ground, and a season or two of thorough culti- 
vation, are necessary in order to destroy the system of branching 
rootstocks. For small areas they may be grubbed out. 




Fig. 41. — Death 
Camas (Zygadenus 
venenosus). X i. 



DEATH CAMAS 

Zygadenus venenosus, S. Wats. 

Other English names: Poison Camas, Poison 

Sego, Hog's Potato, Mystery Grass. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and 

by bulbs. 
Time of bloom : May to June. 
Seed-time : June to July. 
Range: South Dakota to British Columbia, 

southward to Nebraska, Utah, and California. 
Habitat: Shallow ravines, sides of foothills, 

upland pastures. 

Western stockmen, particularly the sheep 
growers of Wyoming and Montana, owe to 
this plant a loss of many thousands of dollars 
yearly. All parts of it are poisonous to all 
grazing animals, but cattle usually reject it 
because of its bitter taste ; horses are even 
more particular ; but sheep feed with little 
discrimination and are, besides, the stock most 
commonly kept on the high benchlands and 
foothills where the plant is most abundant. 
(Fig 41.) 

It springs from an elongated, ovoid, coated 
bulb, a half-inch or less in thickness, the 
stems six to twenty inches tall, slender and 
upright. Leaves very narrow and grass-like, 
deep green, with roughened margins and mid- 
rib, usually partly folded and with sheathing 
base. Flowers greenish or yellowish white, in 



LILIACEAE {LILY FAMILY) 77 

narrow simple racemes three to six inches long, each pedicel subtended 
by a thin, lance-like bract ; each blossom is about a half -inch broad, 
its six perianth segments triangulate ovate or elliptic and narrowing 
abruptly to a short claw, on the upper side of which is an irregular 
roundish gland ; stamens six. The racemes lengthen as the fruits 
form and the erect capsules are longer than the segments of the 
perianth, which are persistent ; capsules three-lobed and three- 
celled, each cavity containing a number of oblong angled seeds. 
After the fruits mature the plants wither, dying down to the bulbs 
early in July. 

Means of control 

Herding of animals away from the plants while they are in the 
growing, succulent stage seems to be the only plan practicable on 
the open range. In more restricted localities the weed may be de- 
stroyed by putting the land under cultivation for a time. The 
bulb is easily and quickly pulled from the ground when it is softened 
by rains, and for small areas even the expense of removal by hand 
labor might well be afforded in order to cleanse the soil from such a 
dangerous plague. 

COMMON BUNCH-FLOWER 

Meldnthium virginicum, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Rhode Island and New York to Minnesota, southward to 

Georgia and Texas. 
Habitat: Wet grasslands, marshes, and borders of streams. 

A very pernicious plant, nearly related to the Veratrum. It is 
specially obnoxious as a weed of w^et meadows, for its long, narrow 
leaves make it much less conspicuous among the grass and hay than 
its larger and more deadly relative. It is poisonous to all stock, 
but particularly so to horses. 

The stem springs from a large, thick rootstock, and is rather 
slender, simple, two to four feet or more high, very leafy, and 
roughish-downy near the top, as is also the flower stalk. Leaves 
narrow lance-shape to linear, often more than a foot long, a half- 



78 LILIACEAE {LILY FAMILY) 

inch to about an inch wide, the lower ones narrowing to a sheathing 
base, the upper ones much smaller and sessile. Flowers in a large, 
dense, terminal, alternately branching, pyramidal panicle, six to 
eighteen inches long, each pedicel subtended by a small, long-ovate 
bract ; each blossom about a half -inch broad, greenish white or 
creamy yellow, darkening to brown as they wither. They have no 
corolla but have six separate clawejf' sepals, oblong or sometimes 
heart-shaped or even slightly auricled, and spread flat, the claws 
bearing the six stamens and usually having at the base of the blades 
two conspicuous dark glands ; some flowers simply staminate, 
others pistillate, others perfect, may all be found on the same stalk, 
but usually the lower ones are sterile. Capsules about a half- 
inch long, three-celled, the persistent styles making them triple- 
pointed, and each cavity contains about ten very flat and broadly 
winged brown seeds, easily distributed either by wind or by water. 

Means of control 

From small areas the perennial rootstocks may be grubbed out ; 
or, when of but one season's growth and before they have penetrated 
the soil very far, they can be quickly pulled when the ground is soft. 
Badly infested meadows require to be drained and put under culti- 
vation. In every case, seeding should be prevented by close cutting 
at the beginning of bloom. 

AMERICAN HELLEBORE 

Verdtrum viride, Ait. 

Other English names: False Hellebore, Swamp Hellebore, Green 

Hellebore, Indian Poke, Earth Gall, Bugbane, Itch-weed, Duck- 

retter. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by thick, fleshy 

rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: May to July. 
Seed-time: June to August. 
Range: From Quebec to British Columbia and Alaska, southward 

to Georgia and Tennessee. 
Habitat : Wet meadows, swamps, and along streams and ditches. 

A large, coarse, and dangerously poisonous plant. Cattle and 
horses have been killed by cropping the young leaves in the spring ; 



LILIACEAE {LILY FAMILY) 



79 



the seeds are fatal to poultry, and even human life has been lost 
through the mistaking of its root for that of some other harmless 
plant. This fleshy rootstock, however, is medicinally valuable, 
and when collected after the leaves have died in autumn, carefully 
cleansed, and dried, it is worth five to ten cents a pound in the 
drug market. (Fig. 42.) 

Leaves appear first in the 
spring, often as early as March, 
thrusting up through the wet 
and sometimes frozen soil like 
large spearheads ; they are 
at first of a delicate light green 
color, strongly lengthwise veined 
and plaited like a fan. When 
fully unfolded the outer and 
lower leaves are usually more 
than a foot long and half as 
wide, broadly elliptic in shape, 
pointed at both ends, with 
sheathing clasp at base ; those 
ascending the stem become suc- 
cessively smaller as they ap- 
proach the top. Stalk stout, 
round, grooved, two to six feet 
tall, without branches except 
in the large panicle at its sum- 
mit ; stalk, foliage, and panicle 
are all hairy. Flowers in a 
dense slenderly pyramidal clus- 
ter, six inches to nearly two feet 
long, the pedicels shorter than the bracts at their bases. The 
blossoms are about a half-inch broad, pale yellowish green, turning 
brown as they wither, with six spreading, oblong sepals, united 
at the base and minutely toothed and fringed at the edge ; stamens 
six, shorter than the perianth ; styles three, persistent. Staminate, 
pistillate, and perfect flowers may all be found on the same stalk, 
but usually the lowermost blossoms are sterile. Capsules nearly an 
inch long, ovoid, three-lobed, three-celled, and containing many 




Fig. 42. 



-American Hellebore {Vera- 
truni viride) . X \. 



80 LILIACEAE {LILY FAMILY) 

large, flat, broadly winged brown seeds which easily sail on the 
wind or float on water. 

Means of control 

For infested meadows, drainage and cultivation is the best rem- 
edy. In places where that is impracticable, the rootstocks should 
be grubbed out — and perhaps sold for sufficient to pay for the 
labor of extraction. Seeding should in every case be prevented by 
close cutting v/hile in first bloom. 

FIELD GARLIC 

Allium vinedle, L. 

Other English names: Wild Garlic, Crow Garlic, Wild Onion. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by secondary underground 
bulbs, by bulblets produced on the flowering stalk, and rarely by 
seeds. 

Time of hloom: Late May to June. 

Seeds : Seldom produced. Aerial bulblets ripen at the same time as 
winter wheat and rye and are harvested with them. 

Range : Massachusetts to South Carolina, westward to the Missis- 
sippi River. 

Habitat : Prefers sandy loam ; fields, meadows, and pastures. 

In localities where it is at all common, this is one of the most 
injurious of weeds and most difficult to destroy. Its presence in 
pastures where dairy stock is grazing is ruinous to the quality of 
butter and cheese produced, and any food prepared with garlic- 
flavored milk is unpalatable. The very flesh of animals that have 
eaten the plant is permeated with its odor and taste. It is also a 
pest in wheat fields. In the three states of Maryland, Virginia, and 
Tennessee, where the weed is extremely troublesome, the loss to the 
wheat crop alone is estimated by a government report to be more 
than a million dollars annually. The bulblets are about the same 
size and weight as a grain of wheat, making it impossible to clean 
them out at harvest time even with the best of sieves and fans. 
But if infested grain is kept for several months and subjected to 
freezing cold, the bulblets dry and shrivel, becoming light enough to 
be fanned out with a good machine. Experiments have been con- 
ducted in the seed laboratory at Washington with drying machines 



LILIACEAE {LILY FAMILY) 



81 



such as are used at elevators for the drying of commercial grains. 
It was demonstrated that the specific gravity of the wheat grains 
was increased by the process and that of the bulblets decreased, 
enabling the crop to be cleaned and made marketable without 
loss of time. Flour is spoiled when even a small 
number of Garlic "kernels" are ground with the 
wheat. Not onl^^ so, but a moist, sticky coating is 
formed on the rollers that crush the grains, com- 
pelling stoppage of the mill so that the machinery 
may be cleaned. In mills that make stone-ground 
flour the damage is still greater, for there it is 
found that the taint can be entirely removed only 
by redressing the buhrstones. (Fig. 43.) 

The plants are one to three feet tall, springing 
from small, ovoid, membranous-coated bulbs. 
Leaves slim, deep green, hollow, round in cross sec- 
tion, borne below the middle of the slender flower- 
ing stalk, which bears at its top an erect, dense 
cluster or umbel of small, pinkish purple flowers, 
sometimes nearly white, each flower having six 
pointed perianth segments with a stamen inserted 
at base ; pedicels threadlike, often nearly an inch 
long. Below the flower-head are two papery, 
pointed bracts which soon fall away. As the 
flowers wither, their places are taken by aerial 
bulblets, each about the size of a wheat kernel 
and tipped with a "whisker," or filament, nearly 
an inch long. There may be twentj-five or thirty 
to a hundred bulblets in a seed-head. Lest it 
should not be enough, the plant works below 
ground too; secondary bulbs, called "cloves" or 
"toes," develop at the base of the old bulb, and 
in the fall form thick tufts of young plants which remain green all 
winter, ready to repeat the cycle of growth in the spring. New 
infestations are usually effected by transportation of the bulblets, 
and the purchase of strawberry plants from infested localities has 
been known to start a new "station " by means of the tiny under- 
ground bulbs or "' cloves." 



Fig. 43.— 
Field Garlic 
{Allium vine- 
ale). X}. 



82 LILIACEAE {LILY FAMILY) 

Means of control 

Hand-pulling just at flowering time is a good method if the plants 
are not too numerous to make it impracticable. The ground must 
be very soft and care must be taken to leave no "cloves" behind 
that will render the work of no account. Quicker and more 
effective is the use of crude carbolic acid applied with a common 
machine oil-can ; a few drops on a plant or a small sprinkle on a 
tuft will kill them all. The acid should be very little, if at all, di- 
luted. This treatment may be given before the grass has started 
or even before the ground has thawed in the spring, when the green 
Garlic tufts show plainest. If used during the grazing season, 
stock must be kept from the fields until rain has washed the poison 
into the soil. This method seems expensive in time and labor, but 
it is not more so than the application of Paris green to potato 
plants ; it is certainly the best way of removing the pest from lawns, 
and was the one used to clean out a very abundant stand of it 
which at one time impaired the beauty of the eight acres of green- 
sward surrounding the White House at Washington. 

In cultivated ground the task of extermination can seldom be 
completed in one season. When undertaking to destroy Field 
Garlic with the plow, the work should be done as late in the fall 
as practicable, the depth of the furrow being so gauged as to bring 
as many as possible of the bulbs to the surface or near it, where they 
will alternately freeze and thaw. Some plants will survive, of 
course, to be fought in the same way with early spring cultivation, 
followed by a hoed crop, well tilled until midsummer ; this in turn 
to be followed by a crop of clover. Liming and fertilizing the soil 
helps better plants to crowd out the weed. 

In infested pastures, sheep may be induced to keep the Garlic 
nibbled down by salting a number of tufts from time to time so as to 
overcome their natural dislike to its taste. If deprived of leaf 
growth for an entire season, the underground bulbs wither and rot. 
In some instances success has been attained in mellow soil by loosen- 
ing it with the plow and turning in hogs to root out and eat the 
bulbs. It should be remembered that the meat of any animal 
which has eaten Garlic takes the flavor and is unmarketable. When 
wanted for that purpose, they must be withdrawn from such graz- 
ing and fed for several days on a different diet. 



LILIACEAE {LILY FAMILY) 



83 



MEADOW GARLIC 

Allium canadense, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by aerial bulblets, occasionally by 

seeds. 
Time of hloom: May to June. 

Seeds : Seldom produced ; aerial bulblets ripen in July and August. 
Range: Maine to Minnesota, southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 
Habitat: Moist meadows, pastures, and thickets. 

The range of native species of Onion or Garlic is more extensive, 
but not one of them is so rank in taste and odor, or so difficult to 
exterminate, as the immigrant Field Garlic. Most 
of them have a preference for low, moist soil and 
the shade of thickets, and disappear before drain- 
age and cultivation. This one is most adaptive 
and therefore most troublesome. Its bulblets 
are slightly larger than grains of wheat or rye, so 
that they are not difficult of removal with a sieve 
of proper-sized mesh. But often the weed is a 
plague of pasture and meadow, to the detriment 
of dairy products. (Fig. 44.) 

Bulb small, distinguishable from that of the 
Field Garlic by its coat, which is fibrous and netted 
instead of a soft, membranous skin, and by the 
leaves, which rise directly from the bulb instead 
of being borne part of the way up the flowerstalk, 
and are flattened in cross section. Flowerstalk 
eight inches to two feet in height, round, and 
smooth ; umbel large, the flowers pink, sometimes 
almost white, very numerous. Aerial bulblets 
ovoid, plump, their capillary appendage sometimes 
exceeding an inch in length. 

Measures for extermination the same as recom- 
mended for Field Garlic. 




Fig. 44. — 
Meadow Garlic 
(Allium cana- 
dense) . X i. 



Other Englis 

par ilia. 
Native. Perennial 



SAW BRIER 

Smilax glauca, Walt. 
names: Chain Brier, Prickly Bamboo, False Sarsa- 
Propagates by seeds and by tubers. 



84 



LILIACEAE {LILY FAMILY) 



Time of bloom : May to June. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Massachusetts to Kansas, southward to Florida and Texas, 

Habitat: Cultivated crops, fields, meadows, waste places. 



Most of the Green-briers have a preference for woods and thickets, 
where they seldom prove very annoying to the farmer, but this one 
comes out into the open and will invade almost any crop that may be 

growing in the dry and mellow soil 
which it prefers. Birds eat its 
berries and void the seeds unharmed 
by digestion, and sometimes the 
seeds are distributed while still on 
the dried stalks, in baled hay and 
straw; also the long, knotted root- 
stocks are broken and the tubers 
scattered by farming tools in or- 
dinary cultivation. (Fig. 45.) 

Stem perennial, round, slender, 
set with scattering, rather stout, 
slightly curved prickles ; but the 
branches and twigs are angled and 
unarmed. Leaves broadly ovate, 
smooth, entire, five-nerved, covered 
with a bloom on the under side and 
sometimes above, with short petioles 
bearing at the base on each side 
a long tendril ; these tendril-bearing 
petioles are persistent even when the 
blades of the leaves fall away in 
autumn. Flowers in umbels on 
slender, flattened, axillary peduncles ; they are dioecious, yellowish 
white, very small, with six-parted perianth in two rows of three, soon 
falling away ; the sterile flowers have six stamens, with thread- 
like filaments inserted on the very base ; the fertile flowers have 
three short and spreading, almost sessile stigmas above a three- 
celled ovary which develops a small, three-seeded berry, ripening 
the first year, jet-black and glossy when the glaucous film which 
covers it is rubbed away. 




Fig. 45. — Saw Brier (Smilax 
glauca). X \. 



SAURURAGEAE {LIZARD-TAIL FAMILY) 



85 



Means of control 

Put the land to a crop requiring hoe-cultivation ; the use of a 
cultivator only serves to spread the pest by scattering the tubers. 
Small thickets should be grubbed out, or the tops cut and the roots 
treated with caustic soda or carbolic acid. 

YERBA MANSA 

Anemopsis californica, Hook. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstoeks. 

Time of bloom: May to September. 

Seed-time: June to October. 

Range : Southern California to Southern Utah, Arizona, and New 

Mexico. 
Habitat : Moist, saline soil ; troublesome in cultivated crops. 



The most troublesome part of this plant is its thick, creeping 
rootstock, which is very acrid, astringent, and strong-scented. 
Stem scape-like, six inches to two feet tall, with a large, broadly 
ovate or oblong, clasping leaf just 
above the middle, in the axil of 
which is a fascicle of one to three 
much smaller petioled leaves ; root 
leaves thick, oblong, with rounded 
apex and heart-shaped base, usually 
slightly broadened toward the tip, 
entire, two to eight inches in 
length, on petioles about as long as 
the blades, dilated and sheathing 
at base. Flowers very small, 
densely crowded on a thickish 
conical, terminal spike about an 
inch long, at the base of which is 
a persistent involucre of six or 
eight oblong, showy, white bracts 
about an inch in length, having the 
appearance of petals and resembling 
a large white anemone. The true fig. 46. — Yerba Mansa (Anemop- 
flowers on the spike have no sis californica). x t 




86 



URTICACEAE {NETTLE FAMILY) 



perianth but have six to eight stamens and a one-celled ovary, 
sunk in the fleshy rachis of the spike and having three or four 
spreading stigmas ; each flower is subtended by a minute white 
bract. The whole plant has a very pungent, spicy odor. Fruit a 
berry or capsule, with three to four carpels each containing six to 
ten very small rounded seeds. (Fig. 46.) 

Means of control 

Drainage ; followed by intensive hoe-cultivation, alternated 
with heavy seeding to grass or clover. 



HEMP 

Cannabis satlva, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: New Brunswick to On- 
tario and Minnesota, southward 
to North Carolina, Tennessee, 
and Kansas. 
Habitat: Barnyards, waste 
places. 



Seeds of hemp are often an 
impurity of other seeds, notably 
of oats, particularly if grown in 
the hemp-raising districts of the 
country. The writer first saw 
the plant flourishing finely in a 
vacant lot behind a city livery 
stable. (Fig. 47.) 

Stem three to ten feet in height, 
rather stout, erect and holding 
its branches nearly upright, the 
inner bark fibrous and extremely 
tough and strong, the whole 
plant rough-hairy and strong- 
scented. Leaves compound, with 
five to seven very slender leaflets. 




Hemp (Cannabis sativa) . 
Xi. 



URTICACEAE {NETTLE FAMILY) 



87 



attached to their foot-stalk Hke fingers, all at the same base ; leaflets 
three to six inches in length, a quarter-inch to an inch wide, pointed 
at both ends, sharply toothed. Flowers dioecious, the sterile ones 
in axillary, compound panicles, each with five hairy sepals and five 
drooping stamens ; the fertile ones in small, erect, axillary spikes, 
leafy-bracted, the calyx entire and clasping the ovary. Achene 
compressed ovoid, about an eighth of an inch long. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development by cutting or pulling while the plant 
is in early bloom. 



TALL, OR SLENDER, NETTLE 

Urtica gracilis, Ait. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstoeks. 

Time of bloom: June to October. 

Seed-time: August until cut off by frost. 

Range: Nova Scotia to British Columbia, southward to the Caro- 

linas, Missouri, and Kansas. 
Habitat: Rich soils ; barnyards, roadsides, 

waste places. 



Stem two to seven feet in height, slen- 
der, erect, usually simple, but sometimes 
with a few ascending branches, hollow 
and ridged, sparingly set with stinging 
hairs. Leaves opposite, slender, lance- 
shaped, rounded at base, three to six 
inches long, dark green above, paler below, 
three to five-nerved, sharply saw-toothed, 
also sparsely set with stinging hairs ; peti- 
oles slender, more than half as long as the 
breadth of the leaf. Flowers small, green- 
ish, sometimes dioecious, but more often 
on the same plant, the staminate ones near 
the top and the fertile flowers in the axils 
below, hanging in long, compound clus- 
ters ; sterile flowers have four sepals, each 




Fig. 48. — Slender Nettle 
(Urtica gracilis). X j. 



88 



URTICACEAE {NETTLE FAMILY) 



with a stamen inserted at base ; fertile flowers also have four 
sepals, the inner pair curving over and persistently enclosing the 
seed as it matures. Achenes very small, flattened ovoid, numer- 
ous. (Fig. 48.) 

Means of control 

Close cutting in June and again in August, using dry salt to check 
recovery. In yards and roadsides the rootstocks should be grubbed 
out and destroyed. The plants cut or pulled should be dried for a 
few days and then burned so as to ensure destruction of the seeds. 



GREAT, OR STINGING, NETTLE 

Urtica dioica, L. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: September until cut off by frost. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minnesota, 
southward to South Carolina and Missouri. 

Habitat : Waste places and roadsides. 



Not a very common plant, which is fortunate, 
since its stings are so venomous as to cause acute 
discomfort for a considerable time. It is well 
to know that dilute alcohol will almost im- 
mediately relieve the burning and itching pain. 
(Fig. 49.) 

Stem two to four feet tall, stout, four-ridged, 
liollow, densely set with fiercely stinging hairs. 
Leaves long-oval, long-pointed, one to three 
inches wide and three to six inches long, three 
to five-nerved, rounded or heart-shaped at base, 
coarsely but sharply toothed, clothed with the 
venomous hairs ; petioles much shorter than the 
blades. The flowers are small and greenish, 
similar to those of the preceding species, growing 
in large, compound clusters from the axils of 
the upper leaves, the fertile and the staminate 
flowers usually on difl^erent plants. 




Fig. 49. — Sting- 
ing Nettle {Urtica 
dioica). X \. 



URTICACEAE {NETTLE FAMILY) 



89 



Means of suppression the same as for the Slender Nettle. 

Both this plant and the Slender Nettle yield a fiber said to be 
stronger and finer than that of flax, but no economic use has ever 
been made of them. 

WESTERN NETTLE 

Urtica holosericea, Nutt. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: August to September. 
Seed-time: September to October. 

Range : From Utah and the Wasatch Mountains westward through- 
out California. 
Habitat: Waste places, borders of streams. 



A larger and stouter plant than 
either of the common Eastern 
Nettles, and possessed of vicious 
stings. Stem erect, unbranched, 
bristly hairy, frequently attaining 
to ten feet in height though more 
commonly four to seven feet tall. 
Leaves three to six inches long, 
ovate to lance-shape but obtuse 
at base, with short, stout petioles 
and oblong stipules ; they are 
rather thick, hairy on both sides, 
but especially so on the lower 
surface. The staminate flowers 
are in loose, slenderly branching, 
axillary panicles nearly as long as 
the leaves ; pistillate panicles much 
shorter and more crowded, the per- 
sistent membranaceous calyx-lobe 
enfolding the achenes. (Fig. 50.) 

Means of control 

Cultivation of the ground for 
the purpose of destroying the per- 
ennial roots ; or, small areas may 




Fig 



50. — Western 

holosericea) . 



{Urtica 



90 



URTICACEAE {NETTLE FAMILY) 



be grubbed out. When tillage is impracticable, close and per- 
sistent cutting will prevent seeding and starve the roots. 



FALSE NETTLE 

Boehmeria cylindrica, Willd. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September, 

Seed-time: September until cut off by frost. 

Range: Quebec and Ontario to Minnesota, southward to Florida 

and Kansas. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; waste places. 

Stems six inches to two feet or more in height, erect, round, 
smooth or sometimes slightly hairy, simple or with few branches. 

Leaves long ovate to lance-shaped, 
pointed, three-nerved, sharply toothed, 
much resembling those of the nettles 
but without stinging hairs ; petioles 
long, slender, smooth. Flowers may 
be dioecious or the two kinds inter- 
mixed on the same plant, more often 
the latter, but in either case they are 
in densely crowded, elongated, axillary 
spikes, often leafy at the tips ; the 
sterile ones very like those of the 
True Nettle, but the fertile ones having 
an urn-shaped persistent calyx en- 
closing the ovary, and later enfolding 
the ripened achenes. (Fig. 51.) 

Means of control the same as for 
common Nettles. As they are with- 
out stings, small areas may be readily 
hand-pulled. 




Fig. 51. — False Nettle (Boeh- 
meria cylindrica). X \. 



PATIENCE DOCK 
Riimex Patientia, L. 



Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time : July to September. 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



91 



Range: Newfoundland to Ontario, southward to Pennsylvania, 

Ohio, and Kansas. 
Habitat : Rich soil ; farmyards, waste places, roadsides. 

A very large species, with a stout and very deep taproot. Stem 
sometimes attaining to eight or ten feet in height but usually 
two to six feet tall, stout, erect, grooved, 
and smooth, simple or sparingly branched. 
The large basal leaves are sometimes 
more than two feet in length, oblong 
lance-shaped, broadening above the base, 
smooth but with thick ribs and veins 
and long petioles ; stem leaves long- 
pointed and much smaller. Panicle very 
large and dense, sometimes nearly two 
feet in length, its branches nearly 
erect, often with leafy bracts among 
the whorled flowers. These are small 
and green with six sepals, six stamens 
and three styles, the calyx differing 
from that of the following species in 
that only one of the three enlarged, 
heart-shaped, veiny inner sepals or 
valves has a small tubercle on its back, 
or sometimes merely a thickening of 
the base of its midrib. Pedicels slen- 
der with a swollen joint near the base. 
Fruit an achene, sharply three-angled, 
about one-eighth of an inch long, smooth, 
shining, light brown. (Fig. 52.) 

Controlled, like the Curled Dock, by 
deep cutting or grubbing or by hand- yig. 52. — Patience Dock 
pulling when the ground is sufficiently soft. {Rumex Patientia) . x xi- 




NARROW-LEAVED DOCK 

Rumex crispus, L. 

Other English names: Yellow Dock, Curled Dock. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Tijne of hloom: June to September. 



92 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



Seed-time: July to October. 

Range : Throughout the United States and southern British America. 

Habitat: Meadows, pastures, farmyards, and waste places. 

The root of this plant is spindle-shaped, thick, yellow, often two 
or three feet long. Stem two to four feet tall, erect, slender, 
smooth, finely grooved, simple or with a few branches near the top. 

Basal leaves oblong lance-shaped, 
six inches to more than a foot in 
length, with margins usually wavy- 
curled ; petioles long and stout ; 
upper leaves much smaller, with 
shorter petioles. Flowers in large, 
simple or compound racemes, often 
more than a foot in length, growing 
in crowded whorls on slender, jointed 
pedicels ; they are small and green- 
ish, without petals, but having six 
stamens ; styles three, with stigmas 
tufted ; calyx of six sepals in 
double rows of three, the inner ones 
heart-shaped, beautifully veined, 
uniting to form valves that enclose 
the seed, giving it triple wings, 
which assists its distribution by 
wind ; all three valves have a rather 
thick, rounded, corky tubercle on 
the back. Achenes three-sided, 
plump, with rounded tips, smooth, 
shining, about one-twelfth of an inch 
long. Birds are very fond of them 
and forage on the brown, weather- 
They are a very common impurity 
of clover and alfalfa seeds ; and, though the task of removing them 
is difficult, it is not so strenuous as grubbing Docks. (Fig. 53.) 




Fig. 53. — Yellow or Curled Dock 
(Rumex crispus). X f. 

beaten panicles all winter. 



Means of control 

Prevent seed production. In order to destroy the perennial 
roots, deep and frequent cutting, with hoe or spud, is necessary 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 93 

SO that they will be starved of the food assimilated by the leaves. 
Or when the ground is very soft the roots may be removed entire, 
by prying with a spade set into the ground vertically by the side 
of the root and pulling hard at the same time with the other hand. 
The roots of all three of the immigrant Docks here described are 
used in medicine ; and the United States annually imports more 
than a hundred thousand pounds to supply the drug trade, at a 
cost of about a half -million dollars. If properly cleaned, split length- 
wise, and dried, they might be made to pay for the labor of their 
extraction from the soil. 



WILLOW-LEAVED DOCK 

Riimex mexicdnus, Meisn. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : May to September. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range : Labrador to British Columbia, southward to Maine, Michi- 
gan, and Minnesota, and along the Rocky Mountains to central 
Mexico. 

Habitat : Moist, rich soil ; fields, low meadows, waste places. 

This weed is tolerant of soil which is somewhat brackish and 
it often damages the hay crop from the salt-marsh meadows 
along the Coast. It has also made its way to Europe, w^here it 
is regarded with much dislike. 

Taproot rather stout, penetrating the soil to a great depth. 
Stems tufted, slender, ascending, flexuous, grooved, smooth, and 
pale green, one to three feet tall, usually simple. Leaves narrow, 
lance-shaped, pointed at both ends, the sides often nearly folded 
together; petioles rather short. Racemes erect, the whorls very 
dense ; pedicels scarcely exceeding the calyx-lobes, jointed near 
the base ; calyx olive to reddish brown, the valves triangular- 
ovate, delicately veined, all tubercled. Achenes dark red, smooth 
and shining ; frequently an impurity of clover and alfalfa seed, so 
extending the range of a most troublesome weed. 

Means of control the same as for Rumex crispus. In well-tilled 
ground none of these large, deep-rooted weeds attain sufficient size 
to be very troublesome. 



94 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



BROAD-LEAVED DOCK 

Rumex obiusifdlias, L. 

Other English names : Bitter Dock, Butter Dock, Blunt-leaved Dock. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range : Throughout the United States and southern British America. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, pastures, and waste places. 



A large, very robust plant, in many localities, the most common 
of the docks. Stem stout, erect, grooved, simple or with a few 
branches, somewhat rough, especially near the top. Lower leaves 
often more than a foot in length and half 
as broad, oblong, w^ith heart-shaped bases 
and rounded or bluntly pointed tips, the 
veins somewhat hairy on the under side ; 
petioles long and thick; stem leaves nar- 
rower and more pointed, all petioled. 
Panicle large and loose, the whorls some- 
what distant, often subtended by leafy 
bracts ; pedicels slender, jointed below the 
middle, longer than the calyx-lobes ; the 
valves, which enclose the fruit, pointed- 
ovate, or nearly halberd-shaped, strongly 
net-veined, sharply toothed at the side, 
and only one of them bearing a tubercle 
on the back. Achene dark red, smooth 
and shining, its three faces concave and 
its angles faintly margined. 

Means of control the same as for Rumex 
crispus. (Fig. 54.) 



TALL SORREL 

Riimex Acetosa, L. 

Garden Sorrel, Sour 
Propagates by 




Fig. 54. — Broad- 
leaved Dock (Rumex ob- 
tusifolius). X |. 



Other English names 

Dock. 
Introduced. Perennial. 

seeds and by rootstocks. 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



95 



Time of bloom: May to July. 

Seed-time: June to August. 

Range : Eastern Canada to Vermont, New York, and Pennsylvania 

locally south and west. 
Habitat: Gardens, fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

Usually an escape from gardens 
where it has been cultivated for 
''greens," though there are much 
better pot herbs which are not so 
unruly. Stems eighteen inches to 
three feet tall, erect, simple, smooth, 
slightly grooved. Leaves two to 
five inches long, arrow-shaped, the 
auricles at base not spreading ; basal 
leaves on long and slender petioles, 
those on the stems nearly sessile. 
Flowers dioecious, the racemes erect, 
and crowded, or interrupted. Calyx 
green, the valves winged in fruit, 
rounded at apex, heart-shaped at base. 
Achenes dark reddish brown, pointed, 
three-angled, smooth and shining. 
(Fig. 55.) 

Means of control 

Frequent and close cutting through- 
out the growing season will prevent 
seed development and starve the 
roots tocks. Small areas should be 
grubbed out and destroyed. 




Fig. 55. — Tall Sorrel 
(Rumex Acetosa) . X ^. 



FIELD SORREL 

Rumex AcetoseUa, L. 

Other English names: Horse Sorrel, Sheep Sorrel, Redtop Sorrel, 
Sourweed, Sourgrass. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: May to September. 

Seed-time : June to November. 

Range: All parts of North America except the extreme North. 

Habitat : Rather dry, sandy soil ; fields, meadows, pastures, road- 
sides, and waste places. 



96 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



Rootstocks extensively creeping, branched, yellowish, tough 
and fibrous, with tufts of feeding rootlets at intervals of a few 

inches. Stems three inches to a 
foot or a little more in height, 
slender, erect or nearly so, usually 
simple. Leaves halberd-shaped, 
long-petioled, the basal auricles 
spreading ; stem leaves often with- 
out auricles ; they are smooth, light* 
green, papillose, filled with an acid 
juice — which is rather pleasant to 
taste but very unwholesome, as it is 
an acid oxalate, which, veterinarians 
say, is poisonous to horses and 
sheep. Flowers dioecious, in erect, 
interrupted, panicled racemes, the 
staminate ones conspicuously yellow 
because of the out-thrust, pollen- 
loaded anthers, the fertile ones with 
reddish calyx-lobes and feathery, 
crimson stigmas. Achene three- 
angled, brown, exceeding the calyx- 
lobes. Sorrel seed is a frequent 
impurity of commercial seeds, par- 
ticularly of alsike clover, from which 
it is especially difficult to separate. (Fig. 56.) 




Fig. 56. — Field Sorrel (Rmnex 
Acetosella). X i. 



Means of control 

Cultivate and enrich the ground, correcting its acid condition 
with heavy applications of lime. Grain crops infested with Sorrel 
are so robbed of moisture as to yield very poor returns ; they may 
be helped by a spray of Iron sulfate applied just as the weed comes 
into bloom ; the rootstocks take no harm, but much of the leaf sur- 
face is destroyed and seed development prevented for that season. 
Give surface cultivation, after harvest, exposing the fibrous root- 
stocks and destroying the leaf-growth, and also stirring dormant 
seeds into life. Reseed heavily, smothering the weed with strong 
grasses or clover. 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



97 



PROSTRATE KNOTWEED 

Polygonum aviculdre, L. 

Other English names: Doorweed, Knotgrass, Matgrass. 

Native. Annual or perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to October. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: Nearly everywhere in North America, Europe, and Asia. 

Habitat: Cultivated grounds, yards, roadsides, and waste places. 



A social, almost domesticated, weed, seeming to thrive 
best where most trampled and abused, growing in thick mats 
along hard-beaten farmyard paths, and in- 
truding persistently in lawns and garden bor- 
ders ; it often fringes the stone flags of city 
sidewalks. 

Stems slender, pale green, faintly ridged, 
usually prostrate, four inches to nearly two feet 
in length, branching in all directions from 
the white, woody, rather deeply boring root. 
Smaller branches come out at many of the 
numberless "knots," or joints, which are pale 
under the sheathing stipules. Leaves bluish 
green, nearly elliptical in shape, sessile or with 
very short petioles, a quarter-inch to an inch 
long. Flow^ers very small, the calyx five-parted, 
greenish w^hite with pink margins, sitting 
solitary or in groups of two or three in the 
leaf axils ; stamens usually eight, sometimes 
fewer ; style three-parted. Achenes dull brown, 
with acute apex and rounded base, three-angled, 
and minutely ridged. This species and also the 
one following is often attacked by a white mil- 
dew. (Fig. 57.) 




Fig. 57. — Pros- 
trate Knotweed 
{Polygonum avicu- 
lare). X\. 



Means of control 

Hoe-cutting or hand-pulling before the first seeds ripen. Dor- 
mant seeds will supply later crops to be treated in the same way 
until the ground is clean. 



98 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



ERECT KNOTWEED 

Polygonum erecium, L. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Ontario to the Northwest Territory, southward to Ten- 
nessee and Arkansas. 
Habitat: Yards, waysides, and waste places. 



A plant resembling the Doorweed and often growing in company 
with it, but having larger leaves and flowers and standing erect at 
a height of four inches to a foot or more. Stem 
slim, round, smooth, 3^ellowish green, with 
many branches. Leaves broader than those 
of the Doorweed, one-half inch to an inch 
long, elliptical, usually obtuse, sessile or with 
very short petioles ; stipules funnel-shaped, 
paper-white, often torn and ragged. Flowers 
greenish white, in small axillary clusters, on 
pedicels usually about as long as the sheathing 
stipules ; stamens five or six. Achenes dull 
brown, pointed ovoid, enclosed in the per- 
sistent calyx-lobes. (Fig. 58.) 




Fig. 58. — Erect 
Knotweed {Polygonum 
erectum). X ^. 



Means of control 

Prevention of seeding by close cutting or 
pulling while in early bloom. 



BUSHY KNOTWEED 

Polygonum rajnosissimum, Michx. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Maine to New Jersey on the Atlantic Coast ; in the West 

from Minnesota to the Northwest Territory, California, Arizona, 

and New Mexico. 
Habitat : Sandy, often brackish, soil ; irrigated lands, waste places. 



POLYQONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 99 

Stem rigidly upright, sometimes attaining four feet but more often 
six inches to two feet in height, much branched, slender, slightly 
ridged, and smooth. Leaves yellowish green, smooth, narrow 
lance-shaped, pointed at both ends, a quarter-inch to an inch long, 
with very short petioles conspicuously jointed to the collar-like 
stipules, which are funnel-form, thin, usually cut and torn. Flowers 
in axillary clusters, greenish with yellow margins ; stamens three 
to six ; sepals six, the three inner ones small, the outer ones 
larger, keeled and curving inward at the summit, persistent, their 
withered remains enfolding the smooth, shining, three-angled 
achenes when they mature and fall. 

Means of control 

Prevent reproduction by cutting or pulling when in first bloom. 



SWAMP SMARTWEED 

Polygonum Muhlengergii, Wats. 
{Polygonum emersum, Britton) 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Ontario to British Columbia, southward to Virginia, 

Louisiana, and Texas. 
Habitat : Muddy or dry soil ; fields, low meadows, swamps. 

Although this weed seems to prefer moist soil, it will grow any- 
where, even on mountains, varying its form to fit its surroundings. 
When established in field or meadow its creeping, horizontal root- 
stocks make it difficult to suppress, as by ordinary cultivation they 
are likely to be broken and further distributed. 

Stems one to three feet long, decumbent or sometimes erect, 
usually simple, rough with short, appressed hairs, or sometimes 
smooth and slightly grooved, swollen at the joints. Leaves vari- 
able, those in wet places usually smooth, rather broad, and heart- 
shaped at base ; in dry situations narrow, lance-shaped, pointed at 
base, and covered on both sides with appressed hairs ; loose sheath- 
ing stipules nearly as long as the petioles. Flowers dark rose- 



100 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



color, their peduncles rough-hairy and often glandular, growing in 
dense spikes, one to four inches long ; calyx five-lobed ; stamens 
five, exserted; style two-cleft to about half its length, exserted. 
Achenes lens-shaped, black, and shining. 



Means of control 

Cutting and many times cutting, close to the ground, for the 
purpose of depriving the rootstocks of all food assimilated b}^ the 
leaves and preventing seed production. Small areas should be 
grubbed out. 

PENNSYLVANIA SMARTWEED 

Polygonum pennsylvdnicum, L. 

Other English names: Glandular Persicary, Purplehead. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to October. 

Seed-ti7ne : August to November. 
Range: Eastern Canada and 
United States to Minnesota, 
southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; damp grass 
lands, waste places, and along 
streams and ditches. 



A pest of lowland clover fields, 
as it ripens its earlier seeds about 
the time of clover cutting. Stems 
two to five feet tall, somewhat 
hard and woody when old, and of 
rather branching and sprawling 
habit, the lower part smooth but 
the topmost leaves and the flower- 
stalks set with gland-tipped hairs. 
Leaves two to ten inches long, 
lance-shaped, with short petioles ; 
sheathing stipules smooth and thin. 
Flowers in short, crowded, erect 
spikes, cylindric, often blunt at 
the end, deep pink ; they are fre- 
quently affected with a smut or 




Fig. 59. — Pennsylvania Persicary 
(Polygonum pennsylvanicum) . X I. 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



101 



fungus which turns the heads into a mass of purple spores, de- 
stroying the fruits so that "purplehead" is a benefit from the 
farmer's point of view. Achenes black, lens-shaped, smooth, and 
shining. (Fig. 59.) 

Means of control 

Cut closely or pull before any seeds have matured. Rankly 
infested ground should be put under cultivation before being again 
used for clover or grass. Good drainage is an assistance in subdu- 
ing this weed, for it likes the soil to be moist. 



COMMON SMARTWEED 



Polygonum Hydropiper, L. 



Other English names: Water-pepper, 
Biting Knotweed. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: Throughout North America. 
Naturalized in the Eastern States, but 
indigenous in the Northwest. 

Habitat : Low fields and meadows ; gar- 
dens and barnyards, waste places. 



The juice of this plant is exceedingly 
biting and pungent to the taste and 
will raise blisters when applied to the 
skin. It is not insistently a water- 
weed, as its name implies, but will grow 
where the soil is only moderately moist. 

Stem smooth, erect, slender, with few 
branches, ten inches to two feet tall, 
light green or frequently of a reddish 
color. Leaves narrow lance-shaped, one 
to four inches long, with short petioles, 
the surface dotted with glands, the edges 
entire or slightly wavy, ciliate, the 
sheathing stipules cylindric and fringed 
with short bristles. Flowers in slender, 




Fig. 60. — Common Smart- 
weed (Polygonum Hydropiper). 
Xi. 



102 POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 

nodding, interrupted racemes ; calyx greenish, also gland-dotted, and 
as pungent to taste as the leaves ; stamens four to six ; style short, 
two- or three-parted. Achenes minutely ridged, lens-shaped or 
three-angled approaching to ovoid, dull, reddish brown. (Fig. 60.) 

Means of control 

Cultivation of the ground ; close cutting or hand-pulling before 
the earliest flowers ripen seed. 

MILD WATER-PEPPER 

Polygonum hydropiperoides, Michx. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: New Brunswick to Minnesota, southward to Florida and 

Mexico ; also in California. 
Habitat : Damp soil ; wet meadows, swamps, waste places. 

Often found growing in company with the Smartweed, and more 
troublesome as a weed because perennial. Stems slender, erect 
or decumbent, one to three feet long, usually simple or with a few 
branches near the top, smooth or with appressed, bristly hairs. 
Leaves narrowly lance-shaped, acute, bristly-hairy on the midribs 
beneath, ciliate, not glandular, and not acrid ; sheathing stipules 
narrow and bristle-fringed. Spikes terminal, erect, narrow, often 
interrupted below ; calyx pink or greenish white, with eight stamens 
and with style deeply three-parted. Achenes three-angled, smooth, 
and shining. 

Means of control 

Drainage and cultivation where practicable ; frequent and close 
cutting for the purpose of starving the perennial roots and prevent- 
ing the production of seed. Small areas may be grubbed out. 

LADY'S THUMB 
Polygonum Persicaria, L. 

Other English names: Spotted Smartweed, Spotted Knotweed, 
Red-shanks, Heartweed, Peach-leaved Persicary. 



POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 



103 



Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to October. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: Throughout the American Continent except the extreme 

North, and in most parts of the world. 
Habitat: Soil either dry or moist. Invades nearly all crops. 

The seeds of this weed form one of the most common impurities 
of commercial seeds, particularly of red clover. In a bulletin 
issued by the Agricultural Experiment 
Station of Nevada, concerning "Clover 
Seeds and their Impurities," it is 
stated that of red clover samples sub- 
mitted for inspection (obtained in all 
parts of the country), 62.9 per cent con- 
tained seeds of Persicaria. (Fig. 61.) 

Stems six inches to two feet tall, 
often red or purplish at base, nearly 
smooth, erect or sometimes spreading. 
Leaves lance-shaped, smooth or with 
fine hair roughening the edges, pointed 
at both ends and generally blotched 
near the center with a large brownish 
spot. It is related that Joseph once 
hurt his hand while working in his car- 
penter's shop. Mary wished to make 
a healing poultice with this plant, but 

" She could not find it at her need 
And so she pinched it for a weed," 

since when its leaves have always 

borne the mark of the Lady's thumb: 
,, 1 ^,. ^. , ^ ^u • u Fig. 61. —Lady's Thumb 

the Sheathmg stipules at their base are (Polygonum Persicaria). X i. 
fringed with short bristles. Flower- 
spikes numerous, dense, erect, a half-inch to two inches long; 
calyx pink or purplish with four or five obtuse lobes, usually 
six stamens, and a two- or three-parted st^de. Achenes lens- 
shaped or sometimes three-angled, smooth, shining, jet-black. 

In some localities the plant is said to harbor the corn-root 
aphis, the louse appearing with the first leaves. 




104 POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development. Even so expensive a process as 
hand-pulling is often worth the labor if it hinders so pernicious a 
weed as this from fouling the ground with its long-lived seeds. In 
grasslands and grain fields a spray of four-per-cent solution of 
Copper sulfate will greatly damage the foliage of the weed, checking 
growth and usually blasting the budding flowers. In cultivated 
ground it is readily subdued by the necessary tillage. 

BLACK BINDWEED 

Polygonum Convolvulus, L. 

Other English names: Wild Buckwheat, Knot Bindweed. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-tirne: July until cut off by frost. 
Ra7ige: Throughout North America ex- 
cept the extreme North. 
Habitat : Fields and waste places ; invades 
most crops. 

Not very troublesome in ground re- 
quiring close tillage, but a special nuisance 
ingrain fields ; climbing over and strangling 
the rightful growth, robbing it of food 
and moisture, bending it down by weight 
of its own fruitage. The seeds have long 
vitality and begin to ripen and drop into 
the soil before harvest ; are gathered with 
the grain and often distributed with it ; 
often fed to cattle in screenings from the 
mills, and returned to the soil in stable 
refuse or in droppings. 

Stem slightly angular, roughish, branch- 
ing, one to three feet long. Leaves 
halberd-shaped or long-pointed, heart- 
shaped, smooth, dark green, with slender 

wfed ■ tpol^oltm ^c:t petioles usually not so long as the blades. 

volvulus), xh Flowers in slim, interrupted, axillary ra- 




POLYGONACEAE {BUCKWHEAT FAMILY) 105 

cemes, or often in small clusters of two to six on the small 
branches ; they are greenish white, the calyx five-parted, persistent, 
enfolding the achene, which is black, pointed, three-angled, 
resembling a small kernel of buckwheat. (Fig. 62.) 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Before they begin to twine, rake the Bindweed 
seedlings from the young grain with a weeding harrow. Directly 
after harvest induce germination of seeds on the ground by giving 
surface cultivation, the resulting growth being winter-killed or 
turned under by the plow. Put the ground to a cultivated crop 
before using it again for grain. 

CLIMBING FALSE BUCKWHEAT 

Polygonum scdndens, L. 
{Tinidria scdndens, Small.) 

Other English names : Hedge Bindweed, Hedge Buckwheat. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Ti7ne of Uoorn: June to September. 
Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Throughout the United States and southern British America. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; twining over fences and thickets or trailing 
on the ground. 

A very conspicuous weed, especially when in fruit, capable of 
spreading itself over a square rod or so of ground, when not finding 
other support. Stems very slender, pale green, faintly ridged and 
slightly roughened on the ridges, three to twenty feet in length ; 
several such stems strike off in all directions from the deep-boring, 
branching, perennial root. Leaves halberd-shaped, the tips and 
the basal auricles rather long-pointed, smooth but with edges 
slightly roughened ; petioles long and nearly as thick as the stem 
from which they spring ; sheath smooth, oblique, slightly rough on 
the ridges. Flowers yellomsh green, in slender, axillary racemes, 
interrupted and leafy, two to four inches long ; calyx five-parted, 
the three outer segments winged and decurrent on the pedicels. 
Achenes small, three-angled, obtuse at both ends, jet black, smooth 
and shining. They are persistent on the stems until cold weather 



106 



CHENOPODIACEAE {GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 



and birds glean them, which accounts for the presence of the weed 
along fences and thickets. (Fig. 63.) 

Means of control 

The best remedy is hand-pulling when the ground is soft, early 
in the first season's growth, before the root has extensively grown. 
Otherwise cut the vines from the roots while in early flower, using 
salt or kerosene on the shorn surfaces. Vines like this are an 
argument against any more fences than are absolutely necessary. 



WINGED PIGWEED 

Cycloloma atriylicifblium, Coult. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 





Fig. 63. — Climbing False 
Buckwheat {Polygonum scan- 
dens). Xi. 



Fig. 04. — Winged Pigweed (Cy- 
cloloma atriplicifolium) . X \. 



CHENOPODIACEAE {GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 107 

Seed-time: Late August to November. 

Range : Manitoba to the Northwest Territory, through the Middle 

West to Arizona. 
Habitat : Plains ; sandy soil ; fields, waste places. 

A low and broadly branching plant, six to twenty inches in 
height, the stem and branches somewhat striped and angular, with 
reddish joints, often webby-haired when young but soon becoming 
smooth. Leaves one to three inches long, lance-shaped, with wavy 
and irregular but sharp teeth, narrowing at base to short, slim 
petioles ; when young they are pale green, but they usually turn 
dark purple as the plant matures. Flowers in loosely spreading, 
interrupted panicles, very small, sessile, and scattered unevenly on 
the spikes ; calyx urn-shaped, with five pointed lobes, keeled and 
curved inward, around the base of which develops a thin, mem- 
branous, horizontal wing, or border ; stamens five ; styles three 
or occasionally two. Seed flattened and horizontal, crusta- 
ceous. (Fig. 64.) 

As the plants mature the empurpled leaves fall away, the spread- 
ing branches harden and bend their tips inward, the brittle stems 
part from the roots close to the ground, and after that the plants 
are tumbleweeds, at the sport of varying winds, seeding the soil 
over which they roll. 

Means of control 

Destroy while young by hoe-cutting or hand-pulling. Maturing 
plants should be cut and burned. Stragglers of roadsides and waste 
land should receive attention, for a few tumblers from such sources 
may seed a wide area. 

FIREBALL 

Kochia Scopdria, Schrad. 

Other English name: Mexican Fireweed. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time : September to November. 

Range : Locally in most of the states ; most common in the Middle 

West. 
Habitat: Fields, waste places. 



108 



CHENOPODIACEAE {GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 




Fig. 65 
(Kochia 



. — Fireball 
Scoparia). X |. 



Wherever this plant is estabHshed as a 
weed it has usually first been cultivated in 
gardens for its bright coloring in autumn. 
It is becoming increasingly common, par- 
ticularly on the prairies, where the winds 
carry it far on the unrestricted levels, for 
its rounded, compact growth makes it a 
tumbleweed. Its name of "Mexican fire- 
weed" is a misnomer, for it is an immigrant 
from Europe. 

Stem one to three feet in height, very 
slender, round, pale green, erect and dif- 
fusely branching. Leaves very numerous, 
one to three inches long, pale green, pointed, 
linear, the upper ones almost thread-like 
in their narrowness. Flowers sessile in the 
upper axils, forming short, dense, bracted 
spikes ; calyx five-lobed, each segment 
bearing a small, triangular wing ; seed 
coat membranaceous. In autumn the 
dense foliage turns fiery red, but later 
the plants become brown and unsightly. 
(Fig. 65.) 

Means of control the same as for the 
Winged Pigweed. 



MEXICAN TEA 

Chenopodium amhrosioides, L. 

Other English names: Spanish Tea, Jerusalem Tea, Jesuit Tea, 

Ambrosia. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Tropical America, northward to Ontario and westward to 

Pacific Coast. 
Habitat : Old pastures, neglected yards, roadsides, and waste places. 

Most common in the South. 



A strong-scented, unpleasant weed, rejected by all grazing 
animals, even goats. Stem two to four feet tall, erect, much 



CHENOPODIACEAE (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 



109 



branched, and very leafy. Leaves 

oblong to lance-shaped, one to three 

inches long, smooth, wavy-toothed or 

nearly entire, especially the upper 

ones, which are pointed at both ends 

and sessile or with very short petioles. 

Flowers in dense terminal and axil- 
lary spikes, intermixed with small 

leaves ; calyx green, its five lobes 

completely enclosing the small, 

black, flattened seed. (Fig. 66.) 

Occupying 
the same range 
is a closely re- 
lated plant, 
commonly 
called Worm- 
seed (C. am- 
hrosioides, var. 
anthelmlnticum, 
Gray), differ- 
ing chiefly in 
being perennial 

in latitudes where the ground does not 
freeze in winter; also, it is a larger, more 
strongly-scented plant, with more coarsely 
toothed leaves, two to five inches long and 
its flowering spikes often lacking the small, 
entire, sessile leaves that are intermingled 
with the flowers of Mexican Tea. Both 
plants are used in medicine as anthelmintics, 
and the seeds, from which the essential oil is 
usually distilled, are salable in the drug market 
for six to eight cents a pound. (Fig. 67.) 





Fig. 66. — Mexican Tea (Cheno- 
podium ambrosioides) . X \. 



Fig. 67. — Wormseed 
(Chenopodium ambro- 
sioides var. anthelminti- 
cum), X 1. 



Means of control 

Close cutting or hand-pulling while in 
early bloom. 



110 CHENOPODIACEAE (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 

JERUSALEM OAK 

Chenopodium Botrys, L. 

Other English names: Feather Geranium, Turnpike Geranium. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time : August to October. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Oregon, southward to Georgia and Mexico. 

Habitat: Roadsides and waste places. 

Its name of Turnpike Geranium indicates the fondness of this 
weed for the public road, where it is usually an unsightly object, 
with its glandular, hairy leaves and flowers overlaid with dust. It 
is strong-scented, with an odor somewhat like turpentine, and 
grazing animals, even sheep, usually leave it alone. 

Stem eight inches to two feet tall, slender, erect, simple or with 
very few branches, green, glandular-hairy, and viscid. Leaves ob- 
long, pinnately lobed, obtuse at apex, the lobes also obtuse with 
crenate teeth ; petioles slender, short, the upper leaves becoming 
sessile. Flowers in spreading, cyme-like racemes, small, green, 
viscid, very numerous ; calyx-lobes pointed, hairy, not quite cover- 
ing the small, flattened seed. 

Means of control should be the same as for the Wormseeds. 

STRAWBERRY ELITE 

Chenopodium capitdtum, Asch. 

Other English names : Elite Mulberry, Strawberry Spinach. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Alaska, southward to New Jersey, Illinois, 

and Minnesota, and in the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, Utah, 

and Nevada. Also a native of Europe. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; cultivated grounds ; waste places. 

Stem six inches to two feet high, slender, pale green, often striped 
with purple, with numerous ascending branches. Leaves trian- 
gular or halberd-shaped, one to three inches long, thin, pale green, 
irregularly and coarsely toothed, not mealy ; petioles slender, the 
lower ones about as long as the blades. Flowers in rounded. 



CHENOPODIACEAE {GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 



111 



densely crowded, sessile clusters along 
the upper part of the stem and branches 
and in the lower axils ; calyx three- to 
five-parted, becoming pulpy and deep 
red when ripe, making the clusters look 
like strawberries. Seed ovoid, slightly 
flattened, smooth, dull black. (Fig. 
68.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production either by 
hand-pulling or by close cutting while 
in bloom. 

OAK-LEAVED GOOSEFOOT 

Chenopddiu?n glaucum, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by 

seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: Throughout North America 

except the far North. 
Habitat : Cultivated ground ; waste 

places. 




Fig. 68. — Strawberry Elite 
(Chenopodium capitatum). 



Like the White Goosefoot, this plant has accompanied the 
European settler to every part of the w^orld. Stem eight to twenty 
inches high, rather stout, grooved, succulent, with numerous 
spreading branches, the lowermost often prostrate on the ground, 
glaucous, often meal}^ Leaves oblong to lance-shaped, wav}-- 
toothed or partly pinnatifid, the lower ones obtuse at apex and 
tapering to a slender petiole, the upper ones acute, often entire, 
sessile or nearly so, pale green above and white-mealy beneath. 
Flowers in small axillary clusters, usually not so long as the leaves, 
crowded on short, spreading spikes. Seed dark brown, flattened, 
sharp-edged, the utricle having its summit not completely cov- 
ered by the calyx. 

Means of control the same as for the Smooth Pigweed. 



112 CHENOPODIACEAE {GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 

MAPLE-LEAVED GOOSEFOOT 

Chenopodium hybridum, L. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: July to September. 

Seed-time : August to November. 

Range: Quebec to the Northwest Territory and British Columbia, 

southward to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Kansas, Utah, and 

New Mexico. Also a native of Europe. 
Habitat: Open woods and thickets, farmyards, roadsides, waste 

places ; a frequent tenant of city vacant lots. 

A tall and handsome species, differing from others of its kind in 
that it is fond qf shade. It is strong-scented, the odor somewhat 
like that of Stramonium. 

Stem two to five feet or more in height, erect, rather slender, 
grooved, smooth, green, with many spreading branches. Leaves 
large, smooth, thin, deep green, not mealy, the lower ones some- 
times four inches long, ovate, long-pointed, with one to four large, 
pointed teeth on each side, the base truncate or rounded, petioles 
rather long and slender; the upper leaves lance-shaped, usually 
entire. Flowers in large, loosely spreading, terminal and axillary 
panicles ; calyx green, its five lobes keeled, rather obtuse, not wholly 
covering the seed, which is sharp-edged. 

Means of control 

Close cutting or pulling before the first flowers mature. 

SMOOTH PIGWEED 

Chenopodium album, L. 

Other English names : White Goosef oot. Lamb's Quarters, Fat Hen, 

Mealweed, Meldweed. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: Throughout the world. 
Habitat: Cultivated fields, gardens, waste places. 

A succulent, swift-growing weed, which rapidly absorbs the food 
and moisture needed by the crops among which it intrudes. Pigs 
and sheep are very fond of it, and when young it makes quite as 



CHENOPODIACEAE (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 



113 



good "greens" as its cultivated relatives, the spinach and the beet; 
also, it is a frequent host of the insect enemies, mildews, and rusts 
that injure those plants. (Fig. 69.) 

The stem sometimes attains to six feet, but is usually two to four 
feet tall, stout, erect, ridged and grooved, much branched, often 
striped with pink or purple, growing from 
a short, stout main root with many 
branching rootlets. Leaves rhombic- 
ovate or goosefoot-shaped near the base, 
but become more narrow and lance- 
shaped as they ascend the stem until 
those near the top are often nearly 
linear; smooth and green above but 
often covered on the under side with a 
mealy secretion, especially when young, 
the lower ones irregularly cut and 
toothed, with petioles often as long as the 
blades. Flowers small, green, crowded 
on spiked panicles in the axils and at 
the summit of stem and branches ; calyx 
with five lobes, keeled and enfolding the 
seed, which is lens-shaped, small and 
black; these seeds have very long vi- 
tality, lying dormant in the soil for 
years and germinating when brought 
near the surface by cultivation. Pig- 
weed seeds are nearly always found in 
dirty grain, and often in clover and 
grass seed and in alfalfa ; though, being fiq. 69. — Smooth Pigweed 
lighter, they should be easily removed. {Chenovodium album), x \. 

Means of control 

In hoed crops the weed is very persistent and cultivation should 
be continued until late in the season, else the soil will be strewn with 
late matured seeds. In gardens and other small areas, it should be 
hoe-cut or hand-pulled while young. When the plant appears in 
grain fields, it should be harrowed out with one of the small-toothed 
harrows known as weeders, in the spring, when the grain is but 




114 CHENOPODIACEAE (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 

a few inches high. Stubbles should be given surface cultivation 
after harvest for the purpose of stirring into life such seeds as lie on 
the ground, the young growth to be turned under at the fall plow- 
ing, or, it may be grazed off by sheep. 

NETTLE-LEAVED GOOSEFOOT 

Chenopodium murdle, L. 

Other English names: Sowbane, Swine's Bane. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Tirne of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Maine to British Columbia, southward to Florida and 

Mexico. 
Habitat : Cultivated grounds ; waste places. 

Stem ten to twenty inches high, leafy to the top, slender, often 
decumbent, sometimes erect, usually loosely branched. Leaves 
rhombic-ovate, thin, green on both sides, with large, coarse, wavy 
but sharply pointed teeth, bases broadly wedge-shaped, truncate, 
or slightly rounded, with petioles shorter than the blades. Panicles 
in small, branching, divergent, somewhat corymbose clusters, 
axillary, and shorter than the leaves ; calyx-lobes not wholly 
enclosing the seed, which is sharp-edged and very flat. 

Means of control the same as for Smooth Pigweed. 

SPREADING ORACHE 

Atriplex pdtula, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : Late July to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range : Nova Scotia and Ontario to New Jersey and Ohio ; also 

in northwestern United States and British Columbia, where it is 

probably native. 
Habitat : Sandy soil ; cultivated ground, waste places. 

A relative of the Smooth Pigweed and ranking with it in weedy 
character. Stem one to three feet in length, prostrate or ascending 
or sometimes erect, diffusely branching, grooved, often with reddish 
stripes. Leaves lance-shaped, one to five inches in length, long- 



CHENOPODIACEAE {GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 



115 



pointed, entire or sparingly wavy-toothed, the lower ones with 
a pointed lobe on each side near the base and with slender petioles ; 
the upper ones becoming nearly linear and sessile. Leaves and 
stem often scurfy-mealy, especially near the top. Flowers in 





Fig. 70. — Spreading Orache 
{Atriplex patula). X J. 



Fig. 71. — Halberd- 
leaved Orache (Atri- 
plex patula, var. 
hastata). X \. 



terminal, interrupted, panicled spikes, and also in small clusters 
in the upper axils, the staminate and pistillate flowers separate or 
both kinds together ; the staminate flower without bracts, the calyx 
three- to five-parted with as many stamens ; fertile flower a naked 
pistil with two-parted style, placed between two fleshy, triangular 



116 CHENOPODIACEAE {GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 

bracts, which are united at base and often tubercled on their sides. 
Seed compressed, vertical ; often an impurity of other seeds. 
(Fig. 70.) 

The plant is very variable ; one of its forms, the Halberd-leaved 
Orache {A. patula, var. hastata, Gray), is more common than the 
type, ranging from the Great Lakes across the continent and south- 
ward to Nebraska and Utah. It is stouter, more erect, the leaves 
broadly halberd-shaped and often coarsely and irregularly toothed, 
particularly the lower ones, the petioles often as long as the blades. 
(Fig. 71.) These weeds are subject to the mildew so injurious to 
garden spinach and beets, and will infect those vegetables if grow- 
ing near them. Like the Goosefoots, their seeds retain vitality for 
a number of years when in the soil. 

Means of control 

Hand-pulling while in early bloom is the best remedy ; cutting 
causes the stems to stool freely, and the new growth hastens to 
mature fruit, requiring attention a second time ; so that prompt up- 
rooting saves trouble in the end. In cultivated crops these plants 
give little trouble, for there they are usually destroyed as seedlings. 

BUGSEED 

Corispermum hyssopifolium, L. 
(Corispermum nitidum, Kit.) 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Shores of the Great Lakes to the Northwest Territory and 

British Columbia, southward to Missouri, Texas, and Arizona. 
Habitat : Dry, sandy soil ; grain fields, hoed crops, and grasslands. 

This is another of the plants that often become tumbleweeds when 
mature, which explains why its range extends from the Gulf of 
Mexico to the Arctic Circle. It is well known also in Europe and 
Asia. 

Stems pale green, succulent and finely hairy when young, but 
becoming smooth, hard, and faintly ridged with age, often strongly 
zigzagged, very freely branched, six inches to two feet in length. 



CHENOPODIACEAE {GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 117 

the longer branches spreading and usually decumbent but the 
shorter ones erect. Lower leaves alternate, narrowly linear but 
rather thick, with the base somewhat dilated, one-nerved, sessile, 
spreading, a half-inch to two inches long, tipped with a hard, rigid 
point (cuspidate) ; the upper, floral leaves, or bracts, are very 
different, being thinner, ovate, pointed, little more than a quarter- 
inch long, with dry, scarious margins. In the axils of these reduced 
leaves are the solitary flowers, hardly an eighth of an inch long; 
the calyx consists of one delicate sepal, rarely a second one ; sta- 
mens one to three ; styles two. Seed oval, somewhat flattened, 
with a winged margin, the two persistent styles extended like 
antennae, completing its likeness to a small bug. 

Means of control 

Prevent seeding by thorough and very late tillage of cultivated 
crops. Infested meadows should be harvested while the weed is 
young and succulent. Burn over infested ground where plants 
have matured, in order to destroy seeds on the surface. 

RUSSIAN THISTLE 

Sdlsola Kali, L. 
Var. tenufolia, G. F. W. Meyer 

Other Englis names : Russian Cactus, Russian Tumbleweed, 

Tumbling Thistle. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: Earliest flowers mature as early as September, later 

ones clinging to the plant until nearly springtime. 
Range : Ontario and Manitoba to Idaho ; nearly throughout the 

Mississippi Valley ; in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado ; locally 

in Eastern States. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; invades most crops ; waste places. 

A most pernicious weed, which was brought to this country in 
impure flax seed from Russia not many years ago, but its range is 
already large and is steadily increasing. Because of its excessive 
prickliness, the Dakota farmers who first made its acquaintance 
called it Thistle and Cactus ; but it is neither, being a Saltwort 
and a member of the Goosefoot Family. 



118 



CHENOPODIACEAE (GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 



The seedlings are innocent-looking, grass-like shoots, divided 
into two blades, appearing in April, May, and June. The young 
stalks are tender and succulent, the young leaves an inch or two 
long with young branchlets in their axils ; at this stage of growth 
the plant is good forage which cattle and sheep eat greedily. But 
with the approach of summer weather the plants change their 

character : the stem becomes hard 
and woody, two to three feet high, 
ridged, and streaked with red lines, 
diffusely branched and spreading 
broadly, crowding to death all 
lesser growth. The first leaves 
fall away ; those of later growth 
are not more than a half-inch 
long, mere awl-like spines slightly 
broadened at base and having on 
each side a sharp pointed bract 
which is somewhat shorter. (Fig. 
72.) Flowers axillary, sessile, and 
usually solitary, very small, green- 
ish white or often pink ; calyx 
five-parted, with five stamens 
and two styles ; when mature the 
calyx-lobes are horizontally winged 
on the back, forming a papery 
margin which often helps the seed 
to be carried before the wind, in- 
dependent of the tumbling of the 
parent plant. Seed very small, 
reddish in color, irregular in 
shape but somewhat like a flattened top, held in place by fine 
tufts of coiled hair at the base of the persistent calyx, so that 
only the ripest will fall when the plant is broken from its hold 
on the soil and sent tumbling before the wind ; but they continue 
to ripen and shake loose all winter as the weeds are trundled about. 
According to the size attained, a thrifty plant may bear ten thou- 
sand to a hundred thousand seeds, which retain their vitality in 
the soil for several seasons. 




Fig. 72. — Russian Thistle (Salsola 
Kali, var. tenufolia). X \. 



CHENOPOLIACEAE {QOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 119 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Prevent the production of seed. When the 
weed is cut close to the ground before seeding, it dies. Young 
seedhngs, six or eight inches high, may be plowed under, a drag- 
chain being used to help pull them beneath the turning furrow. 
On such land, plowed as late as July, a soiling crop of corn or rape 
may be grow^n. In such cultivated crops as potatoes, corn, and 
beets, tillage should be continued later than is customary. In 
grain fields, particularly those harvested with a header, the stubbles 
should be burned over, first being mowed and dried for a few days 
if the weeds are still green. Entire communities should be con- 
cerned in keeping highways, firebreaks, and all waste land clean of 
the pest. 

RUSSIAN PIGWEED 

Axyris amarantoldes, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : June to July. 
Seed-time: July to August. 

Range : Manitoba, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. 
Habitat: Grain fields, meadows, railway embankments, roadsides, 
and waste places. 

A native of Siberia, first appearing in this country in 1886, in 
Canada near Winnipeg, Manitoba ; since when the plant has 
spread very rapidly, east, west, and south. It is a coarse, deeply 
rooted, grossly feeding weed, two to four feet in height, widely 
branched and very leafy, seriously crowding the crops among 
which it grows. When young, it somewhat resembles Lamb's 
Quarters, but, instead of being mealy, the branches and under 
side of the leaves are clothed mth very short, star-shaped 
hairs. (Fig. 73.) 

Stem rather stout, grooved, light-colored, very hard and woody 
when mature, and injurious to harvesting machines. Leaves 
alternate, lance-shaped, with short petioles, sparsely toothed or 
wavy-edged, the upper ones entire. Flowers of two kinds, at first 
green and inconspicuous, the staminate ones in slender spikes, 
terminating the many branchlets ; the fertile flowers below, thickly 



120 



CHENOPODIACEAE {GOOSEFOOT FAMILY) 



clustered in the axils ; these each produce a single ovoid, flattened 
seed, about a tenth of an inch long, minutely ridged lengthwise, 
gray and shining ; many seeds have the utricle or papery covering 
persistently enfolding them and projecting 
from the top as a two-lobed wing. When 
mature, the stems, bracts, and calyx lobes 
turn white, and the plants are then very con- 
spicuous. They frequently become tumble- 
weeds, the woody, brittle stems breaking at 
the base and the whole weed roUing away 
before the wind, sowing seed as it goes ; by 
this means its range is being very rapidly 
extended. 

Means of control 

In grain fields, large numbers of the young 
seedlings may be dragged out with a weeding 
harrow, in the spring, when the crop is but 
a few inches high ; plants that survive this 
treatment should be hand-pulled later, but 
before their rank growth injures the crop by 
absorbing its food and moisture. Meadows 
infested by the weed should be early cut in 
order to prevent fouling the soil with the 
seed. Plants along roadsides and railways 
and in waste places should be cut while in 

early flower, and burned so as to make certain that no seed 

shall mature. 




Fig. 73. — Russian 
Pigweed {Axyris ama- 
rantoides) . X \. 



ROUGH PIGWEED 

Amardnthus retroflexus, L. 

Other English names : Redroot Pigweed, Chinaman's Greens. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range : Throughout North America except the far North. Native 

of tropical America and indigenous in the Southwest. 
Habitat : Cultivated ground ; waste places. 



AMARANTHACEAE {AMARANTH FAMILY) 



121 



Like the Smooth Pigweed, this plant is rarely absent from cul- 
tivated ground. One reason for its constant recurrence lies in the 
long vitality of its seeds, which are known to survive in the soil 
for more than thirty years ; they are also a frequent impurity of all 
commercial seeds. 

Stem stout, tough, erect, green, rough-hairy, much branched, 
occasionally attaining a height of ten feet, but usually one to six 
feet tall, springing from a long, 
fleshy, red taproot, befringed with 
pink or white rootlets. Leaves long 
ovate or rhombic-ovate, three to six 
inches in length, dull green, rough- 
hairy, with long petioles and promi- 
nent ribs and veins. Flowers on 
large, dense, terminal and axillary 
panicles, each subtended by three 
rigid, prickly bracts ; they are very 
small, greenish, with five sepals and 
five stamens ; stigmas two or three. 
Each flower produces but one oval, 
flattened, jet-black, and shining seed 
which readily falls from its place 
when ripe. (Fig. 74.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production. This 
means that attention must be given 
to cultivated crops after the horse- 
hoe has ceased its rounds, either 
hand-pulling or hoe-cutting late 

plants which persistently strive to reproduce themselves. If they 
are nearing maturity, remove the plants from the ground, for 
seeds will ripen on the stout stalks. In grain fields, seedlings 
may be dragged out with a weeding harrow in the spring, when 
the crop is but a few inches tall. Or later, but before the weed 
blooms or the grain begins to head, spray with Iron or Copper 
sulfate.. 




Fig. 74. — Rough Pigweed 
{Amaranthus retroflexus) . X j. 



122 



AMARANTHACEAE {AMARANTH FAMILY) 



TUMBLEWEED 

Amardnthus grcecizans, L. 
{Amardnthus dlbus, L.) 

Other English names: White Pigweed, Tumbling Pigweed. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September, 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Throughout North America except the far North; most 

common in the plains regions of the West. 
Habitat : Cultivated ground ; waste places. 



A low, broadly spreading plant, eight to twenty inches high, with 
thick, succulent, very pale green, almost white stem, diffusely 

branching from the base, and hav- 
ing a shallow, pinkish white root. 
Leaves smooth, pale green, a half- 
inch to two inches long, spatulate, 
with rounded apex, the midvein 
extended as a minute bristle; 
petioles slender, paler than the 
blades. Flowers in small axillary 
clusters, green, with three membra- 
nous sepals and as many stamens, 
the three subtending bracts much 
longer, awl-like, sharp, rigid, the 
lateral ones smaller or sometimes 
wanting; seed with wrinkled, pa- 
pery utricle longer than the sepals. 
When the plants mature the leaves 
fall away, the hardened stems 
bend inward, the stalk is uprooted 
or breaks off at the surface of the 
ground, and the weed rolls away 
to scatter the seeds wherever the wind wills. (Fig. 75.) 




Fig. 75. — Tumbleweed {Ama 
ranthus grcecizans). X i- 



Means of control 

Destroy by hoe-cutting while young ; tillage of cultivated crops 
should be long continued, in order to capture late-ripening plants. 



AMARANTHACEAE {AMARANTH FAMILY) 



12; 



Odd corners and waste grounds should be well looked after, as 
many of the largest tumblers come from such places. 



PROSTRATE PIGWEED 

Amardnthus blitoides, Wats. 

Other English names: Matted Pigweed, Low Amarantho 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Maine to Minnesota, southward to New Jersey, Texas, 

and Arizona. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; cultivated ground, waste places. 

Often growing with the Tumbling Pigweed, and very like it in 
the shape of its small, spatulate leaves and small, greenish flowers ; 
but its pale green, succulent branches are more slender, slightly 
ridged, six inches to nearly two feet in length and lie flat on the 
ground, spreading on all sides from 
the central root and forming thick 
mats. Like the other, it crowds out 
better plants and absorbs much food 
and moisture from the soil. The 
bracts subtending the flowers are 
ovate to lance-shaped, hardly exceed- 
ing the sepals ; stamens three ; utricle 
smooth, the seed nearly twice as large 
as those of the Tumbleweed, and for 
that reason much more difficult to 
remove from other seeds, particularly 
clover. (Fig. 76.) This plant and 
the two preceding species are subject 
to the white mold which attacks beets, 
and may also harbor on their roots 
the small striped beet-feeding beetle 
(Systena toeniata, Say) both in the 
larval and mature stages. 

It requires the same measures for 
its suppression as does the Tumble- fig. 76. — Prostrate Pigweed 

weed. (Amaranthus blitoides). X 5. 




124 



AMARANTHACEAE {AMARANTH FAMILY) 



SPINY AMARANTH 

Amardnthus spinosus, L. 

Other English names : Prickly Careless Weed, Soldier Weed. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloo7n: June to September. 
Seed-time : Late July to November. 

Range: Massachusetts to Michigan, Illinois, and Kansas, south- 
ward to the Gulf of Mexico. 
Habitat: Cultivated ground, meadows, lawns, and waste places. 

A native of tropical America and a very common and troublesome 
weed, particularly in the Southern States. Not known north of 
Mason and Dixon's Line until after the Civil War, when it suddenly 
appeared in many places — most probably transported in the feed- 
bags of returning cavalrymen, which is 
the reason why it is called Soldier 
Weed, not because of its own weapons. 
Stem one to four feet tall, stout, 
grooved, erect, smooth, branching and 
bushy, dark green or often purplish 
red. Leaves one to three inches long, 
broadly lance-shaped, pointed at both 
ends, the lower ones with long petioles ; 
at the base of each leaf is a pair of 
diverging stipular spines, one-fourth to 
one-half inch long, rigid, keen as awls. 
Flowers small, greenish, the upper ones 
mostly staminate, forming long, slender 
spikes ; fertile ones below in the axils, 
the clusters usually nearly globular; 
bracts awl-like, about as long as the 
scarious, sharp-pointed sepals ; stamens 
five. Seed very small, lens-shaped, 
smooth, dark, shining brown, imper- 
fectly covered by the utricle ; it is too 
often an impurity of other seeds, 
and, like all its family, is possessied 
of long vitality in the soil. (Fig. 
77.) 




Fig. 77. — Spiny Amaranth 
{Amaranthus spinosus). X j. 



AMARANTHACEAE {AMARANTH FAMILY) 



125 



Means of control 

Prevent seed production. In meadows or permanent pastures 
every stalk should be closely cut or hand-pulled before the flower- 
spikes develop. Cultivated ground should not be neglected in the 
latter part of the season, for it is the late-blooming plants that 
usually seed the soil. Potato and corn land should be plowed or 
well disked after harvest, and a winter crop sown which will keep 
down the weed. 

WATER HEMP 

Acnida tuberculdta, Moq. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Vermont and Massachusetts to 

Manitoba and the Dakotas, southward 

to Louisiana and New Mexico. 
Habitat: Wet meadows, swamps, and 

marshes, sides of ditches. 



Water Hemp has somewhat the ap- 
pearance of a large, succulent Amaranth. 
Stem smooth, erect, sometimes nearly 
an inch in diameter at the base and at- 
taining ten feet or more in height, but 
more often three to six feet tall, with 
many slender, flexuous branches. Leaves 
two to six inches long, lance-shape ap- 
proaching to rhombic, entire, smooth 
but with prominent pinnate veins, and 
pointed at both ends ; petioles slender 
and shorter than the blades. Flowers 
dioecious, in dense terminal or axillary 
spikes, sometimes interrupted and leafy, 
each small and greenish blossom guarded 
by one to three awl-like bracts. The 
sterile flowers have five stamens and 
five sharp-pointed, erect, one-nerved 
sepals, longer than the rigid bracts ; the 
pistillate flowers are without a calyx and 




Fig. 78. 



Water Hemp 



(Acnida tuherculata) . 



126 



AMARANTHACEAE {AMARANTH FAMILY) 



have a one-celled, one-seeded ovary with two to five plume- 
like stigmas. The small, shining seed drops from its place 
while still enclosed in an egg-shaped, valveless, and tuberculate 
utricle, which makes it buoyant and easily distributed by wind 
and water. (Fig. 78.) 

Means of control 

Prevention of seed development by close cutting or pulling while 
in early bloom. Drainage and cultivation of the ground. 




Fig. 79. — Juba's Bush (Iresine 
paniculata). X j. 



JUBA'S BUSH 

Ireslne paniculata, Ktze. 

Other English name: Blood-leaf. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates 
by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Ohio to Kansas, and south- 
ward to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Habitat: Dry fields, meadows, and 
waste places. 

A very conspicuous weed because 
of its white flowers and the red color 
which the foliage often assumes. It 
is a native of tropical America and 
seems to have a preference for sterile, 
sandy, or gravelly soils, into which 
its roots bore deeply, appropriating an 
undue share of the little food and 
moisture available. 

Stem erect, furrowed, swollen at 
the nodes, slender, branching, two to 
five feet in height. Leaves opposite, 
narrowly ovate, long-pointed, be- 
coming lance-shape near the top, 
smooth and entire, with short, slen- 
der petioles. Flowers in large termi- 
nal, branching, nearly leafless panicles, 



AMARANTHACEAE {AMARANTH FAMILY) 



127 



the blossoms very small, with silvery white, five-parted calyx, 
subtended by three dry, white, papery bracts ; the pistillate 
flowers are densely white-woolly at the base and much longer 
than the bracts. Seed small, nearly globular, with valveless 
utricle, included in the calyx. (Fig. 79.) 

Means of control 

Close cutting or pulling in early summer before any seed has 
matured. Enrichment and cultivation of the ground, providing 
humus which will enable the soil to retain moisture and support 
better plants. 

FRCELICHIA 

Frodichia floriddna, Moq. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to September. 
Seed-time: July to November. 
Range : Southern Wisconsin and Minnesota 

to Colorado, southward to Texas and 

Florida. 
Habitat : Dry, sandy soil ; cultivated crops, 

fields, waste places. 

An unpleasant, woolly-hairy plant, closely 
related to the Rough Pigweed and nearly as 
troublesome, intruding in all sorts of crops 
and, by its long flowering season, compelling 
late tillage. 

Stem rather slender, erect, one to three 
feet tall, with a few ascending branches 
near the base, or often simple, leafless near 
the top. Leaves opposite, rather thick, 
narrowly lance-shaped, sessile, or the lower- 
most ones somewhat spatulate and tapering 
to margined petioles, entire, downy on the 
under side. Flowers very small, perfect, 
three-bracted, on densely crowded spikes 

disposed oppositelv in branching panicles; „ „^ ^ ,. , . 

, 11 %, ,1 n 1 1 ^^^- 80. — Frcehchia 

calyx densely woolly, tubular, five-toothed (Frcelichia floHdana), 

at the apex, and has irregular toothed wings x \. 




128 PHYTOLACCACEAE {POKEWEED FAMILY) 

along its sides ; the single seed inside is also enclosed within 
the tube formed by the united filaments of the five stamens. 
These woolly and crested seed envelopes are very light and blow 
easily before the wind. (Fig. 80.) 

Means of control 

After the use of the horse-hoe is impracticable, continue the 
tillage of infested crops in order to prevent the distribution of late- 
maturing seeds. Plants on waste ground should be repeatedly cut 
in order to prevent contamination of adjacent land. 

POKEWEED OR POKEBERRY 

Phytolacca decdndra, L. 

Other English names: Virginia Poke, Scoke, Garget, Pigeon Berry, 
Ink Berry, Cancer Jalap, Redweed. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by 
seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: Late August to No- 
vember. 

Range : Maine and Ontario to Min- 
nesota, southward to Florida and 
Texas. 

Habitat: Fence rows, thickets, and 
waste ground. 

A very handsome plant, which has 
been carried to Europe and natural- 
ized as an ornament in gardens. But 
when growing uncared for it is a 
dangerous weed ; the root is very 
poisonous and the berries when eaten 
cause excessive nausea but are not 
emetic. Both root and berries are 
used in medicine, the drug market 
price for the root being two to five 
cents a pound and for the berries 
^1 five cents a pound ; the latter being 

Fig. 81. — Fokeweed (Phytolacca carefully dried on the stems, when 
decandra). X I. fully ripe, and the root collected in 




NYCTAGINACEAE (FOUB-O'CLOCK FAMILY) 129 

the fall when well stored with plant substance, cut in transverse 
slices, and dried. 

Stems four to ten feet tall, stout, smooth, usually red or purplish. 
Leaves oblong lance-shaped, rather thick, smooth, deep green, 
entire, pointed at both ends, six inches to a foot long, with short 
petioles ; they have an unpleasant odor when bruised. Flowers 
in terminal racemes, which by the further growth of the plant 
become lateral and opposite the leaves ; calyx white, with five 
rounded sepals ; stamens and styles ten. Fruit in drooping 
clusters, each blossom producing a juicy, dark purple berry, with 
ten carpels, each containing a single seed. (Fig. 81.) 

Means of control 

Grub out wholly, selling root and fruit to pay for the trouble if 
possible ; or cut off below the crown and apply dry salt, carbolic 
acid or kerosene to the cut surface of the root. 

HEART-LEAVED UMBRELLA-WORT 

Oxyhaphus nyctagineus, Sweet 
{Allibnia nyctaginea, Michx.) 

Other English names: Wild Four o'clock. Umbrella Plant. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Tijne of hloom : May to August. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range: Manitoba to the Northwest Territory, southward to New 

Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana. 
Habitat : Prairies ; dry fields and meadows. 

A native relative of the garden Four o'clock, and a very per- 
sistent weed, having a large, fleshy, deep-boring taproot which 
makes it a gross feeder and about as hard to dislodge as the Curled 
Dock. Stem one to three feet tall, angled, smooth or nearly so, 
branching by repeated forking. Leaves opposite, smooth, entire, 
two to four inches long, broadly ovate or heart-shaped, and all peti- 
oled except the uppermost pairs. Flowers in forking terminal clus- 
ters, the peduncles and pedicels all somewhat hairy; subtending 
each cluster of three to five flowers is a saucer-shaped or umbrella- 
like involucre, five-lobed, persistent, and enlarging as the flowers 



130 



NYCTAGINACEAE {FOUR-O' CLOCK FAMILY) 




Fig. 82. — Heart-leaved Um- 
brella-wort (Oxybaphus nycta- 
gineus). X \. 



mature until It becomes nearly an inch 
broad, thin, and net-veined, acting as 
a parachute in the distribution of the 
seeds ; each small blossom has a bell- 
shaped five-lobed, red perianth, with 
three to five stamens and one style, 
both exserted. Ovary one-celled, the 
fruit a small, hard, achene-like, nar- 
rowly obovoid, ribbed, and hairy nut- 
let, possessed of long vitality. (Fig. 82.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seeding. Cultivation will 
cleanse infested fields of the perennial 
roots, but small areas newly con- 
taminated should be hand-pulled 
when the ground is soft, or should be 
grubbed out, or cut close to the 
ground and the fleshy root-crowns 
treated with salt in order to prevent 
too swift a recovery. 



HAIRY UMBRELLA-WORT 

Oxybaphus hirsiitus, Sweet 
{Allionia hirsiita, Pursh.) 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to August. 

Seed-time: August to September. 

Range : Wisconsin to the Plains of the Saskatchewan, southward to 
Colorado and Texas. Locally in Ohio, New York, and Con- 
necticut. 

Habitat : Prairies ; dry fields and meadows. 

Even more resistant than the preceding species to summer's 
drought and winter's freezing. Stem one to three feet tall, erect, 
angled, ridged, sparingly branched, clothed with glandular jointed 
hairs, especially at the nodes, which are somewhat swollen. Leaves 
also hairy, oblong or narrowly lance-shaped, with prominent mid- 
vein, entire, sessile, or the lower ones very short-petioled. Flowers 



NYCTAQINACEAE {FOUR-aCLOCK FAMILY 



131 



small, red, similar to the preceding species, but clustered on very 
short and hairy peduncles and pedicels, giving them a bunched 
appearance; involucres also hairy. Seed small, ovoid, hairy, 
with five obtuse ribs. 

Means of control the same as for the preceding species. 





Fig. 83. — Hairy Umbrella- 
wort (Oxybaphus hirsidus). 
Xi. 



Fig. 84. — Narrow-leaved 
Umbrella-wort {Oxybaphus 
linearis). X |. 



NARROW-LEAVED UMBRELLA-WORT 

Oxybaphus linearis, Robinson 
{Allionia linearis, Pursh.) 

Native, Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : June to August. 



132 



NYCTOGINACEAE {FOUR-O'' CLOCK FAMILY) 



Seed-time : July to September. 

Range: Minnesota to Utah, southward to Mexico, Texas, and 

Missouri to the Carolinas. 
Habitat : Prairies ; dry, sandy fields and meadows. 



Taller than either of the preceding species, the stem varying 
in height from one to four or more feet, erect, slender, round or 
only slightly angled near the base, smooth, glaucous, branching, 
and somewhat swollen at the nodes. Leaves one to three inches 
long, linear, thick, smooth, one-nerved, sessile or the lower ones 
short-petioled with obtuse tips, the upper ones distant and acutely 
pointed. Flower-stalks and involucres sparsely covered with 
glandular hairs, the latter obtusely five-lobed and about three- 
fe flowered ; perianth also finely hairy, purple, 

bell-shaped, with stamens and style exserted 
beyond the five obtuse lobes. Seed very small, 
hard and nut-like, oblong obovoid, with five 
hairy ribs, the spaces between covered with 
minute tubercles. 

Means of control the same as for the two pre- 
ceding species. 

HOGWEED 

Boerhaavia erecta, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to November. 
Seed-time: July to December. 
Range: South Carolina to Florida, Texas, and 

Mexico. 
Habitat : Cultivated crops, meadows, and waste 

places. 

A native of tropical America now very com- 
mon in the rich bottom lands of the Southern 
Seaboard and Gulf States. Stems one to three 
feet tall, smooth, diffusely branched from the 
base, spreading wider than its height. Leaves 
one to three inches long, opposite, ovate or 
weed (Boerhaavia sometimes heart-shaped, rather thick in texture, 
erecta). X |. with slender petioles, scalloped or wavy edges, 




ILLECEBRAGEAE (KNOTWOBT FAMILY) 



133 



and whitened under-surface specked with minute black dots. 
Flowers very small, scarcely a twelfth of an inch broad, in 
clusters of two to six on very slender peduncles ; calyx, funnel- 
shaped, five-ribbed and five-lobed, white or purple ; stamens five or 
fewer, exserted. The single seed is about an eighth of an inch 
long, shaped like a reversed pyramid, the sides strongly five- 
ridged, the top flat. When in the soil the seed retains its vitality 
for several years. (Fig. 85.) 

Means of control 

In cultivated ground, very thorough and continued tillage in 
order to prevent the distribution of late-maturing seeds. In 
meadows the hay should be harvested while the weed is in its first 
bloom, with repeated cuttings as the plants recover. But rankly 
infested fields require to be put under cultivation, which should be 
followed by heavy seeding with clover. 



KNAWEL 

Sclerdnthus dnnuus, L. 

Other English name: German Knot-grass. 
Introduced. Annual and winter annual. 

Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: March to October. 
Seed-time: May to November. 
Range : Eastern United States and Canada, 

from Quebec and Ontario to Florida. 

Locally as far inland as Ohio. 
Habitat: Gardens, lawns, fields, meadows, 

and roadsides. 

An inconspicuous but persistent little weed, 
as its season of bloom and fruit is both early 
and late and the seeds when undisturbed in 
the soil retain their vitality for several years. 

Roots tough and fibrous, sending up a 
number of slender, light green, fork-branched 
stems, three to six inches long, usually rough- 
hairy but sometimes smooth, some erect and 
some prostrate and spreading on all sides. 




Fig. 86. — Knawel 
Scleranthus annuus). 



134 ILLECEBRACEAE (KNOTWORT FAMILY) 

Leaves awl-shaped, opposite, with joined bases, and about a 
half-inch long. In their axils and at the ends of the stems 
are clustered the numerous minute greenish flowers; these 
have no petals, but have five or ten stamens, two distinct styles 
and a deeply cut five-lobed calyx (occasionally four-lobed) with 
a hardened, cup-like tube which later encloses and persistently 
holds the solitary seed. These hard seed-coverings — with their 
points broken off — are sometimes an impurity of grass and clover 
seeds. (Fig. 86.) 

Means of control 

Autumn plants should be destroyed by surface cultivation in 
early spring. Where such tillage is practicable, persistent hoe- 
cutting during the growing season will suppress the weed. In 
lawns a few drops of carbolic acid, squirted on the crowns with 
a machine oil-can, destroys the plants with less defacement of the 
sward than the hoe would make. 



FORKED CHICKWEED 

Anychia polygonoldes, Raf. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Maine to Minnesota and southward to Florida, Alabama, 

and Arkansas. 
Habitat: Gardens, lawns, fields, roadsides. 

A low, widely spreading, nearly prostrate weed, the stems three 
to ten inches long, branching by many forkings ; the whole plant 
finely hairy, at least when young. Leaves many and crowded, a 
quarter-inch to a half-inch long, narrowly lance-shape, sessile or 
tapering to very short petioles. Flowers greenish and so minute 
as to be hardly noticeable, sitting sessile in the forks in small 
clusters ; they are without petals, but have a five-parted calyx, two 
stigmas, and two or three, occasionally five, stamens. Each blos- 
som produces but one seed, the small, plump, globose utricle pro- 
truding beyond the calyx-lobes. 



AIZOACEAE iCAEPETWEED FAMILY) 



135 



Means of control 

Prevent seed development by early and frequent hoe-cutting. 
Forked Chickweed, like Common Chickweed, may be killed with a 
spray of Iron sulfate or Copper sulfate if taken just before or during 
its first bloom, when it is most tender and more or less hairy. 

CARPETWEED 

Mollugo verticilldta, L. 

Other English names: Indian Chickweed, Whorled Chickweed. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : May to September. 

Seed-time: June to October. 

Range: New Brunswick to Ontario and Minnesota, southward to 

the Gulf of Mexico. 
Habitat: Gardens, lawns, fields, roadsides, and waste places. 



Like Purslane and Common Chickweed, this plant seems almost 
domesticated in its liking for cultivated fields and gardens. It is 
frequent along sandy roadsides, and springs up in the crevices of 
city pavements and side- 
walks. 

Stems three inches to a 
foot long, smooth, prostrate, 
branching in all directions 
from the slender root and 
forming circular mats. 
Leaves in whorls of five or 
six, spatulate, sessile, entire, 
a half-inch to an inch long. 
Flowers, axillary, very small 
and without petals but hav- 
ing a five-parted calyx, white 
inside and green without, 
three stigmas, and five sta- 
mens if they alternate with 
the sepals or three stamens if 
they alternate with the three 
cells of the ovary. Seed cap- 




FiG. 87. — Carpetweed {Mollugo verti- 
cillata). X 3. 



136 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 



sules ovoid, three-celled, and as soon as ripe the partitions break 
away from the central axes, spilling the many fine, brown, kidney- 
shaped seeds into the soil. (Fig. 87.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development by frequent hoe-cutting. After the 
harvesting of corn, potatoes, or other hoed crops, harrow the ground 
so as to destroy the later growth of weed seedlings. 



SPURRY 

Spergula arvensis, L. 

Other English names: Corn Spurry, Sandweed, Pickpurse. 
Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range : Throughout eastern United States 

and Canada. 
Habitat : Cultivated ground ; grain and 

clover fields. Prefers dry soil, and is 

sometimes grown on such land as a 

forage plant for sheep. 

So rapid is the growth of this weed that 
a field of young turnips or carrots may be 
swiftly smothered by it; young grasses 
and clovers, too, sometimes find it too 
aggressive. 

Stems six to eighteen inches tall, slen- 
der, erect, bright green, branching from 
the base, growing from slender, branching 
roots. Leaves one to two inches long, 
linear or awl-shaped, apparently whorled 
at the joints of the stem but really growing 
in two opposite clusters of six to eight, 
with small stipules between. Flowers in 
terminal cymes ; calyx of five sepals, 
persistent ; petals white and longer than 
the sepals, open only in sunshine ; stamens 
five or ten ; styles five. The thread-like 




Fig. 88. — Corn Spurry 
{Spergula arvensis) . X 4. 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 



137 



pedicels droop as soon as the seed begins to form. Pod or 
capsule with five valves, which are opposite the sepals. Seeds 
many, dull black, small, round, flat, sharply margined, rough- 
ened with very minute pimples ; they are a frequent impurity 
of grass and clover seed ; also they possess long vitality when 
lying dormant in dry soil. (Fig. 88.) 



Means of control 

Prevent seed development. In some cases ground infested with 
Spurry may profitably be grazed off by sheep while the plants are 
young. Among crops in which hoe-cutting is impracticable, a five- 
per-cent solution of Copper sulfate, applied when the plants are 
about half -grown or even when they are in first bloom, will prevent 
the formation of seed. Land fouled with seeds of Spurry should 
be put to a well-tilled hoed crop before being seeded with grain or 
clover. 

THYME-LEAVED SANDWORT 

Arenaria serpyllifolia, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to August. 
Seed-time: June to September. 
Range: Throughout North America except 

the far North. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; waste places. 



A very slender, much-branched, and spread- 
ing little plant. Not an aggressive weed 
but merely doing its best to cover dry and 
sterile soil, that is unsuited to plants of 
more worth. Stems two to eight inches high, 
light green, and rough-hairy. Leaves op- 
posite, sessile, ovate, acute, hardly more than 
a quarter-inch long. Flowers many, very 
small, white, in leafy, cymose panicles ; 
sepals five, lance-shaped, pointed, bristly on 
the back, about as long as the petals, which 
are also five, oblong or obovate. Stamens 
ten, with lilac anthers. Styles three. The 




Fig. 89. — Thyme- 
leaved Sandwort 
(Arenaria serpylli- 
folia). X ^. 



138 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 



is one-celled, shaped like a tiny flask 
uj si.v outward-curving teeth. Seeds many 
pressed, rough. (Fig. 89.) 



capsul 
by six 



ii«,oxv, opening at the top 
Seeds many, very small, com- 



Means of control 

Ground preferred by Sandwort is not fit to grow much else, 
until it has been enriched and supplied with humus, which will 
enable it to retain moisture ; better plants will then soon take the 
place of the weed. 

GRASS-LEAVED STITCHWORT 

Stelldria graminea, L. 
{Alsine graminea, Britten) 

Other English names : Lesser Stitchwort, Grassy 

Starwort. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds 

and by rootstocks. 
Time of hloom : May to July. 
Seed-time: June to August. 
Range: Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario, 

southward to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. 
Habitat : Fields, meadows, and roadsides. 

Graceful plants, which are usually found 
growing in small patches, as the rootstocks 
send up flowering stalks at intervals of a few 
inches. Stems two inches to two feet high, 
slender, weak, four-angled, and roughened on 
the angles, simple below the flower-cluster. 
Leaves opposite, narrowly lance-shaped, broad- 
est just above the base, the lower ones smaller 
than those near the top. Flowers in loose, 
terminal, man^'-branching cymes, on very 
slender, spreading pedicels ; sepals narrow and 
pointed, slightly shorter than the five white 
petals, which are so deeply cleft as to look 
like ten, the blossoms being nearly a half- 

, "^^^' , ??; .7~ i.^^^^^I inch broad; stamens usually ten, sometimes 
leaved Stitchwort „ , n i • n «. 

(Stellaria graminea). lewer ; styles Usually three, occasionally tour 

X h. or five. Capsules oblong-ovoid, exceeding the 




C ARYOPHYLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 139 

sepals, opening by twice as many valves as there are styles. 
Seeds many, minutely roughened. (Fig. 90.) 

Means of^ control 

Close and frequent cutting for the purpose of starving the root- 
stocks and preventing seed production. 

COMMON CHICKWEED 

Stelldria media, Cyrill. 
(Alsine media, L.) 

Other English names: Starwort, Starweed, Winterweed, Birdweed. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : Throughout the year. 

Seed-time : Throughout the four seasons. 

Range: Throughout the world. 

Habitat: Gardens, cultivated fields, lawns, meadows, waste places. 

In spite of its frail appearance, this plant is probably the hardiest 
and the most persistent weed on earth. Its range nears the Arctic 
Circle, and the writer picked green and 
thrifty stems, bearing buds, flowers, and 
seeds, within a yard of a melting snow- 
bank, during a "January thaw" of the 
present winter. The seed, though small, 
retains its vitality for many years. 

Stems tufted, slender, weak, many- 
branched, creeping or ascending, with a 
fringe of hairs down one side. Leaves 
usually not much more than a half-inch in 
length, ovate, smooth, entire, the lower 
ones with hairy petioles, the upper ones 
sessile, so numerous that the plant often 
covers the ground like a green mat. Flowers 
in terminal, leafy cymes or solitary in the 
axils, on very slender pedicels ; each of the 
five small, snowy petals is cleft down its 
center, forming a white star, which is set r^-^J^'r^P.^'.^ZTn 
witnm a larger green oiu^, formed of media), x h. 




140 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 



five oblong, pointed hairy sepals, joined at their bases. Stamens 
three to seven and styles three or four. Capsule ovoid, 
longer than the calyx and opening at the apex by six or eight 
teeth, or twice as many as the styles. Seeds very numerous, 
round, brown, flattened, roughened with rows of small tubercles. 
(Fig. 91.) 

Means of control 

In gardens, constant hoeing or hand-weeding, while the plants are 
young, is necessary in order to suppress this weed ; but among crops 
that will not be injured by the treatment, such as peas, strawberries, 
and grain, a spray of Iron sulfate will kill young Chickweed. 




Fig. 92. — Field 
Mouse-ear Chick- 
weed (Cerastium 
arvense). X i- 



FIELD MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED 

Cerastium arvense, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and 

by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: April to July. 
Seed-ti7ne: May to August. 
Range: Labrador to Alaska, southward to 

Georgia, Missouri, and California. 
Habitat : Dry, rocky places, usually on hills in 

the southern part of its range, but in the 

North invading pastures and meadows. 

A plant which is in many places cultivated 
for its beauty, the white, starry flowers being 
more than a half-inch broad, borne in graceful 
terminal clusters. But its creeping rootstocks 
make it difficult to keep within bounds, as every 
joint is capable of forming a new plant. (Fig. 
92.) 

Stems densely tufted, erect, slender, downy 
or sometimes nearly smooth, four to ten inches 
tall, simple or with few branches. Leaves rather 
thick, linear oblong to lance-shaped or the 
lower ones somewhat spatulate. Sepals lance- 
shaped, the deeply notched white petals more 
than twice as long. Stamens ten or fewer; 



CARYOPHTLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 



141 



styles usualh' five, sometimes four or three. Capsules much exceed- 
ing the calyx and containing many small, roughened seeds which are 
released by the opening of ten pointed teeth at the apex. In the 
southern part of its range the plant dies down in summer, but 
makes a second growth in autumn and remains green through the 
winter. 

Means of control 

Where the plant takes possession of grasslands it is best to cleanse 
the ground with a short rotation of hoed crops. Small areas 
should be carefully grubbed out, and wayside patches prevented 
from spreading. 



COMMON MOUSE-EAR CHICKWEED 

Cerdstium vulgdtum, L. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to September. 
Seed-time: June to October. 
Range: Throughout North America except 

the extreme North. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, yards, roadsides, 

and waste places. 



Stems tufted, some prostrate, others erect 
or ascending, six inches to a foot or more in 
length, dark green, and clammy-hairy. Basal 
and lower leaves oblong-spatulate, obtuse ; 
upper ones usually oblong, sometimes lance- 
shaped, a half-inch to an inch long, not at all 
resembling the ears of a mouse. Flowers in 
loose cymose clusters, the central one solitary 
and always the oldest ; usually but one flower 
in a cluster is open at a time ; the five white 
petals are cleft at the tip and are longer than 
the somewhat obtuse, hairy sepals ; styles 
alwa3^s five, and stamens ten. Seed capsule 
slenderly ovoid, faintly ridged, slightly curved 
upward, opening through ten pointed teeth 




Fig. 93. — Common 
Mouse-ear Chickweed 
{Cerastiuvi vulgatum). 
XI. 



142 CARYOPHYLLAL'EAE {PINK FAMILY) 

at its summit. Seeds very numerous, brown and rough. 
(Fig. 93.) 

Means of control 

In cultivated ground this weed is not very troublesome, as its 
spreading, rather shallow-growing roots are readily destroyed by 
the required tillage. In grain fields its spreading habit makes it 
obnoxious, as it appropriates more food and moisture than the crop 
can afford. Here it can be killed when young, or so checked in 
growth as to prevent seed development, by a spray of Iron sulfate, 
though it is not so sensitive to that treatment as is the garden 
Chickweed. 

PURPLE COCKLE 

Agroslemma Githdgo, L. 
{Lychnis Githdgo, Scop.) 

Other English names: Corn Cockle, Corn Rose, Corn Campion, 

Crown of the Field, Mullein Pink. 
Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: Late May to July. 
Seed-time: July to August. 

Range: Throughout the world, wherever grain is grown. 
Habitat: Grain fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

" A very little Cockle is sufficient to cut the grade," says a market 
report from one of the wheat-growing states. The plant is particu- 
larly a weed of grain fields, and it is there because it is sown there. 
The seed is poisonous, and when ground with wheat the flour is 
rendered unwholesome and even dangerous as food. Poultry and 
other animals have been killed when fed with screenings composed 
largely of seeds of Cockle. (Fig. 94.) 

Stem erect, slender, one to three feet tall, simple or with a few 
branches near the top, clothed with whitish, appressed hairs. 
Leaves opposite, a character common to the Pink Family ; two to 
four inches long, lance-shaped to linear, the lowest slightl}^ narrowed 
at the base, all softly hairy. Flowers terminal on long, hairy 
peduncles, often an inch and a half broad, with five spreading, 
reddish purple petals, which are slightly notched at the outer edge 
and dark-spotted near the claw ; calyx ovoid, hairy, and strongly 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 



143 



ten-ribbed, with five long, pointed lobes extending beyond the 
petals ; styles five, opposite the petals ; stamens ten. Capsule 
ovoid, one-celled, sometimes exceeding a half-inch in length, and 
containing twenty-five to forty black or very dark brown seeds, 
rounded triangular in shape and roughened 
with rows of short teeth ; the size and 
weight of the seeds make them very diffi- 
cult to remove from grain among which 
they are mixed. When in the soil they 
retain their vitality for several years. 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. When Cockle is first 
discovered among the grain, hand-pull and 
destroy the plants before any seed matures. 
If a field is too rankly infested for hand- 
pulling, an application of Copper sulfate 
or Iron sulfate spray will so injure the 
tissues of leaf and flower as to prevent the 
development of seed. Ground where 
Cockle seed has ripened and been dis- 
tributed should not be used for grain 
again until after some cultivated crop /i^- 94. -Corn Cockle 
^ . 1 • 1 • {Agrostemma Githago). 

has been given a place m the rotation, x h 




RAGGED ROBIN 

Lychnis Flos-cuculi, L. 

Other English names: Meadow Pink, Meadow Campion, Cuckoo 

Flower. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 

Range : New Brunswick to New Jersey, and westward to Ohio. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; meadows and waste places. 



An escape from flower gardens, and a pernicious weed wherever 
established because of its perennial roots. Its seeds are said to 
have some of the same poisonous properties as those of its relative 
the Corn Cockle, but not to so dangerous an extent. (Fig. 95.) 



144 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 




Fig. 95. — Ragged 
Robin (Lychnis Flos- 
cuculi). 



Stem one to two feet tall, erect, slender, 
branching near the top, downy-hairy below, 
somewhat clammy above. Basal and lower 
leaves spatulate, tapering to a margined pet- 
iole; upper leaves sessile, few, becoming very 
small as they ascend the stalk. Flowers in 
loose, spreading panicles ; those of plants cul- 
tivated in gardens usually pink, white or blue, 
but those of the wild plant usually magenta-red, 
nearly an inch broad, each of the five petals 
divided into four slender lobes, the middle 
pair of lobes being longest, causing the flower 
to have a ragged, fringy 
look; calyx short, ten- 
nerved, smooth. Capsule 
nearly globular, one- 
celled, many-seeded. 

Means of control the 
same as for the Corn 
Cockle. 



RED CAMPION 

Lychnis dioica, L. 



Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to September. 
Seed-time: July to October. 
Range : Nova Scotia, Ontario, New England, 

and the Middle States. 
Habitat: Grain fields, meadows, roadsides, 

and waste places. 



Stems one to two feet tall, erect, clammy- 
hairy particularly just below the swollen 
joints, branching near the top. Basal leaves 
oblong, pointed, long-petioled ; stem-leaves 
sessile or the lower ones with short petioles, 
ovate, acute. Flowers in cymose clusters, 
each nearly an inch broad, dioecious, without 




Fig. 96. — Red Campion 
(Lychnis dioica). X |. 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 



145 



fragrance, and open in the daytime; petals deeply notched, red, 
or often nearly white ; calyx on staminate plants tubular but on 
fertile plants becoming nearly globular, the teeth short and 
acute. Capsules large, one-celled, many-seeded. (Fig. 96.) 
Means of control the same as for White Cockle. 



WHITE COCKLE 

Lychnis alba, Mill 
(Lychnis vespertina, Sib.) 

Other English names: Evening Lychnis, White Campion. 

Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: Late June to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Eastern and middle United 

States and Canada. 
Habitat: Grain fields, meadows, and 

waste places. 



This plant develops a thick, fleshy 
root, from which it sends up several 
slender, branching stems, one to two feet 
in height, somewhat hairy and viscid. 
Leaves long ovate to lance-shaped, the 
lower ones tapering to margined petioles, 
the upper ones smaller, acute, and ses- 
sile. Flowers in loose panicles, usually 
dioecious, numerous, white or often 
tinged with pink, fragrant, each about 
an inch broad, opening in the evening 
and closing after sunrise the next day ; 
each of the five petals is deeply notched 
at the outer edge, and at the inner point 
is a pair of white, scale-like bracts, 
narrowing the throat of the flower which 
is fertilized by long-tongued, night-flying 
moths. Sterile flowers have usually ten 
stamens. Calyx of the fertile flowers 
much inflated, crimson-tinged along the 
hairy ribs. Styles five. Capsules one- 




FiG. 97. — White Cockle 
{Lychnis alba). X 3. 



146 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 



celled large, ovoid, with ten inbent valves at the apex which curve 
outward when ripe and from which the seeds are shaken out as the 
winds sway the stems ; seeds very abundant, small, grayish brown, 
beaded with fine tubercles ; too frequent an impurity among those 
of grain, grass, and clover. (Fig. 97.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by close cutting or hand-pulling at the 
time of first bloom. Meadows and grain fields where the plants 
have been permitted to distribute seed should be broken up and 
given a short rotation of cultivated crops before reseeding. 




Fig. 98. — Sleepy 
Catchfly (Silene 
antirrhina). X |. 



SLEEPY CATCHFLY 

Silene antirrhina, L. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: Late July to October. 
Range: Ontario and New England to British 

Columbia, southward to Florida and Mexico. 
Habitat: Dry meadows, waste places, open 

woods. 



An inconspicuous plant because of its habit of 
keeping its flowers closed except for a very short 
time each day while the sun shines brightest. 
Its seeds, however, are often found among 
those of grass and clover. 

Stem eight inches to two feet high, slender 
and glutinous below the swollen joints. Leaves 
small, the lower ones about two inches long, 
spatulate, narrowing to a margined petiole; 
stem-leaves narrow and sessile, reduced near 
the top to awl-like bracts. Flowers in a cymose 
panicle on very slender pedicels, each less than 
a quarter-inch broad, the five pink petals 
notched ; styles three, rarely four ; stamens 
ten. Capsule ovoid, opening by three or six 
teeth at the apex, one-celled or imperfectly 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 147 

three-celled at base, a characteristic of all the Silenes ; the 
seed is small and dark brown. (Fig. 98.) 

Means of control 

Hay should be cut from infested meadows before the seed matures 
and falls into the soil. It is better that there should be some pres- 
ent loss if thereby the ground is made comparatively clean for the 
next crop. 

FORKED OR HAIRY CATCHFLY 

Silene dichotoma, Ehrh. 

Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Ti7ne of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Eastern United States, Maine to Texas ; also on the 

Pacific Slope. 
Habitat : Clover fields, meadows, and waste places. 

A special pest in clover fields. Stem erect, hairy, one to three 
feet tall, branching by forking. Lower leaves petioled, two or 
three inches long, pointed at both ends, the lowermost tapering 
to hairy petioles ; stem-leaves sessile, becoming mere pointed 
bracts near the top. Flowers in forking, one-sided spikes, sessile 
or on very short pedicels ; petals five, pale pink or white, deeply 
cleft ; styles three, exserted ; stamens ten ; calyx about a half-inch 
long, five-ribbed, very hairy, short-toothed. Capsule many-seeded, 
oblong ovoid, opening at apex by three or six teeth. 

Means of control the same as for the Sleepy Catchfly. 

NIGHT-FLOWERING CATCHFLY 

Silene noctiflora, L. 

Other English names: Clammy Cockle, Sticky Cockle. 

Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Manitoba, southward to Florida and 

Missouri. 
Habitat: Cultivated ground; clover and alfalfa fields, meadows, 

and waste places. 



148 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 



First cultivated in gardens because of its fragrance and beauty, 
but now a widespread pest. Stem one to three feet tall, erect, 
rather stout, branching, covered with glandular, viscid hairs. 
Basal and lower leaves three to five inches long, spatulate, narrow- 
ing to margined petioles ; upper leaves sessile, often uniting 
around the stem ; ovate to lance-shaped, 
acute. Flowers in spreading cymes, few 
but large, often more than an inch across, 
very fragrant, creamy white, with five 
deeply cleft petals opening at twilight to 
close again at sunrise ; stamens ten ; styles 
three ; calyx-tube more than a half-inch 
long, becoming much inflated and show- 
ing beautiful ten-lined markings in two 
shades of green. Capsule ovoid, six- 
toothed at the opening, and containing 
many grayish brown seeds roughened 
with rows of fine tubercles ; these seeds 
are very difficult of removal from those 
of clover and alfalfa. (Fig. 99.) 

Means of control 

Soiv clean seed. In fields to be har- 
vested for seed the weed should be hand- 

• ^'^^\^?-~^j^^*"^°'^^'': pulled at the opening of its earliest 

ing Catchfly (Silene nocti- 7, ^^j^ • 1 i 

flora). X J. llowers. Wnere practicable, cut young 

plants from their roots with spud or hoe, 

well below the crown. Rankly infested fields should be broken up 

and put under cultivation for a season. 




BLADDER CAMPION 



Silene laMfolia, Britten and Rendle 
{Silene infldta, Sm.) 

Other English names: White Bottle, Cow-bell, Bubble Poppy, 

Spattling, Behen. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : Late May to August. 
Seed-time: July to October. 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE {PINK FAMILY) 



149 



Range: New Brunswick and Ontario southward to New Jersey, 

Illinois, and Iowa. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; fields, meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 



A beautiful flower, but also a very pernicious weed. Stems 
thickly tufted, six inches to two feet in height, pale green, smooth 
and glaucous ; some stems of each tuft are 
flowerless but bear many leaves that assimi- 
late food for storage in the rootstocks. 

Leaves rather thick in texture and glau- 
cous, oblong, pointed, the upper ones often 
meeting around the stems, the lower ones 
usually spatulate, narrowing to margined 
petioles. Flowers in loose, open panicles, 
on slender pedicels, white, drooping, each 
blossom about a half-inch broad, the five 
petals deeply cleft, and ten long stamens 
out-thrust, tipped with brown anthers ; styles 
three ; calyx pale green, very much inflated, 
beautifully veined, sometimes with pinkish 
purple, sometimes with markings of deeper 
green. Capsule broadly ovoid, opening with 

five recurved teeth. Seed rounded kidney- 

, 1 , 1 1 -.1 r? ^ 1 Fig. 100. — Bladder 

shaped, brown, roughened with fine tuber- campion {Silene lati- 

cles. (Fig. 100.) folia), xi. 




Means of control 

Prevent seed production. Cut the stalks from the roots well 
below the crowns, with hoe, spud, or broad-bladed cultivator, so 
frequently that little or no sustenance may be given the creeping 
rootstocks. If the infested ground is in meadow it should be 
broken up and put to cultivated crops, well tilled for two or more 
seasons. 

BOUNCING BET 

Sapondria officinalis, L. 

Other English names: Soapwort, Scourwort, Fuller's Herb, Old 
Maid's Pink, Hedge Pink, Sweet Betty, Wild Sweet William, 
Lady-by-the-Gate, London Pride. 



150 



CARYOPHTLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 



Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: Late August to November. 
Range: Throughout eastern North America. 

Habitat: Along roadsides and railwaj^s ; in old pastures and on 
waste ground. 



In pioneer da^'s, when the art of soap-making had not approached 
its present excellence, housewives knew that fine woolens and silks 

could be well cleansed with a slippery, 
sudsy solution made by bruising the 
mucilaginous stems and leaves or young 
rootstocks of this plant in water. For 
this purpose a patch of it was kept 
handy, and hence its names Soapwort 
and Fuller's Herb. The cylindrical 
roots — not the stolons — are used in 
medicine, and are worth five to ten 
cents a pound in the drug market when 
collected in late autumn or early spring, 
carefully cleansed, and dried. (Fig. 101.) 
Stems in tufts, one to two feet tall, 
stout and smooth, with swollen joints. 
Leaves opposite, long ovate, three- 
nerved, pointed, rather thick, smooth, 
sessile or with short, broad petioles. 
Flowers pink, usually double, in large, 
dense, terminal, corymbose clusters ; 
calyx tubular, five-toothed ; stamens 
ten ; styles two ; Ovary one-celled or 
sometimes incompletely two- or four-celled. Capsule oblong, 
conic, opening by four short teeth at apex. Seeds rough, dark 
slate-color or dull black, shortened kidney-shaped ; they con- 
tain a poisonous property called saponin, like that which makes 
dangerous the seeds of the related Cow Cockle and Corn Cockle. 




Fig. 



Bouncing Bet 



(Saponaria officinalis) . X |. 



Means of control 

If the patches are small, grubbing out is the best remedy. Caustic 
soda or hot brine is effectual, but the ground will be barren until 



CARYOPHYLLACEAE (PINK FAMILY) 



lol 



the chemicals have leached away. Constant cutting of the green 
tops will finally starve the rootstocks, if continued without cessa- 
tion for two seasons, 

COW COCKLE 

Sapondria Vaccdria, L, 

Other English names : Cow-herb, Spring Cockle, Pink Cockle, China 

Cockle. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to July. 
Seed-time: July to August. 
Range: Ontario to British Columbia, southward to the Gulf of 

Mexico. Locally very abundant, especially in the wheat-growing 

parts of the West. 
Habitat: Grain and alfalfa fields, waste places. 



An immigrant from Europe, where it is said to have been formerly 
used as a forage plant, the specific name, Vaccaria, having been given 
in allusion to its value as cow^ fodder. 
But it is listed among the "Stock- 
Poisoning Plants of Montana," in the 
bulletin of that name published by the 
United States Department of Agricul- 
ture, and its seeds, like those of Corn 
Cockle, contain a poisonous property 
that makes flour unwholesome and dan- 
gerous to use when by accident they 
are ground with wdieat. Grain contami- 
nated with these seeds is sharply "cut" 
in the market. (Fig. 102.) 

Stem one to three feet tall, erect, 
slender, smooth, glaucous, round, and 
swollen at the joints, many-branched. 
Leaves long ovate, pointed, smooth 
and glaucous, opposite and clasping the 
stem, the pairs sometimes united at 
base. Flow^ers in loose corymbose clus- 
ters, on rather long, wiry pedicels ; calyx 
a swelling, five-ribbed vase in two shades 
of green, the ribs darker and so promi- 




FiG. 102. — Cow Cockle 
{Saponaria Vaccaria). X i. 



152 PORTULACACEAE {PURSLANE FAMILY) 

nent as to be angled wings ; the five petals pink, veined with deeper 
pink, notched at the outer edge ; stamens ten ; styles two. Cap- 
sule ovoid, four-toothed, imperfectly two- to four-celled, containing 
twenty to thirty hard, nearly globular, black seeds, about a tenth 
of an inch in diameter. These seeds retain their vitality for several 
years when buried in the soil. 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. A Montana miller stated that the quantity of 
Cow Cockle seed cleansed yearly from the wheat brought to his 
mill, and supposed to be already clean, was about a ton. Seed 
should be made as clean to sow in one's fields as to be eaten in bread. 
Raking the grain fields with a weeding harrow when the crop is but 
a few inches high will kill very many of the Cockle seedlings ; those 
not killed by the harrow should be hand-pulled at the time of their 
earliest bloom, when they show very conspicuously among the grain. 
The process is a paying one, even though the weeds are so many as 
to make the task somewhat strenuous, for the food and moisture 
used in their development is stolen from the rightful crop, which is 
the poorer for it. Stubbles where the weed has matured seed 
should be burned over and the ground used for a cultivated crop 
before being again seeded to grain. 



PURSLANE 

Portuldca olerdcea, L. 

Other English names: Pussley, Wild Portulaca, Duckweed. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: Late June until cut off by frost. 

Seed-time: July until killed by frost. 

Range: Throughout North America except the northern part. 

Habitat: Cultivated ground, waste places. 

The noted experiments with buried seeds, conducted by W. J. 
Beal, Botanist of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, 
demonstrated that the seeds of Purslane will germinate after having 
lain dormant in the soil for thirty years. Few gardens are without 
the weed. It is said to harbor both the melon plant louse and 



PORTULACACEAE (PURSLANE FAMILY) 



153 



the corn root louse ; also it is sometimes attacked by a white 
mold, which may make it a menace to better plants. 

Stems four inches to more than a foot in length, prostrate, thick, 
round, smooth, succulent, branching on all sides from the central 
root and again often forking. Leaves, alternate, obovate or wedge- 
shaped, with rounded tips, very small, thick, and fleshy, mostly 
clustered at the ends of the branches. Both stems and leaves 
often have a reddish tinge. Flowers solitary, sessile, about a 
quarter-inch broad, opening only in the brightest sunshine ; sepals 
two, broad, pointed, keeled ; four to six — mostly five — broadly 
rounded yellow petals, soon falling away ; stamens seven to 
twelve ; style five- or six-parted. 
Capsule urn-shaped, one-celled, 
membranous, many-seeded, open- 
ing transversely and the top fall- 
ing off like a Hd ; when near 
maturity, the plants can hardly 
be touched without sowing these 
seeds by hundreds. The weed 
is most tenacious of life, often 
readjusting itself after having 
been torn up bodily, the fleshy 
stems, and leaves sustaining it 
while doing so, if not placed 
where the feat is impossible. ^^^^^ 
(Fig. 103.) ^^ 

Means of control 

Killing while in the seedling 
stage by constant shallow hoeing 
is the only way of vanquishing 
this weed. If old enough for seed- 
cones to begin to form, plants should be removed from the soil, for 
the stems and roots retain life enough to ripen and distribute seed. 
Pigs are very fond of Purslane, and one of those greedy animals will 
dispose of a considerable crop. Or the plants may be thrown on a 
compost heap, where fermentation will destroy the vitality of the seeds. 




Fig. 103. 



- Purslane (Portulaca ole- 
racea). X i- 



154 



RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



CURSED CROWFOOT 

Ranunculus scelerdtus, L. 

Other English names: Celery-leaved Crowfoot, Ditch Crowfoot, 

Bog Buttercup. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Tiine of hloom : May to August. 
Seed-time: June to October. 
Range : New Brunswick to Minnesota, southward to Florida ; also 

in the Rocky Mountains, Colorado, and Utah. Native to Europe 

and Asia. 
Habitat : Wet meadows, low pastures, along ditches and in bogs. 



Cattle ordinarily are careful to reject all Buttercups, because 
of their acrid and poisonous juices, but when 
first turned out to grass in the spring they 
are likely to graze so eagerly as to get some 
of the young leaves of this one, which causes 
an inflammation of mouths and digestive 
tracts, sometimes so severe as to be fatal. 
Stem stout, sometimes over an inch thick 
at the base, smooth, hollow, much-branched, 
six inches to two feet in height. The alter- 
nate leaves are also very smooth and rather 
thick, the basal ones rounded heart-shape in 
outline, but deeply three- to five-lobed, 
bluntly toothed or entire, with long, broad, 
flattened petioles ; stem-leaves also three- 
parted, but the lobes are more slender, ap- 
proaching to wedge-shape, those near the 
top becoming linear. Flowers small, the five 
pale yellow petals scarcely exceeding the 
calyx ; stamens and styles numerous. Ra- 
nunculus fruits are composed of many one- 
seeded carpels tipped by more or less elon- 
gated styles ; in this species the heads are 
oblong, the length nearly thrice the thick- 

■r^ .r.. ^ , ness, each one closely set with many minute. 
Fig. 104. — Cursed ,1,1 1" 1 . . 

Crowfoot (Ranuncu- short-beakecl carpels, each contammg one 

lus .sccleratus) . X i oval, flattened, dull brown seed. 




RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



155 



Means of control 

Cut or pull while in early bloom in order that no seeds shall be 
allowed to ripen. 



SMALL-FLOWERED CROWFOOT 

Ranunculus abortivus, L. 

Other English names: Abortive Buttercup, Kidney-leaved Crowfoot. 

Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: Late April to August. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range : Labrador to Manitoba, southward to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat: Moist soil ; meadows, lawns, and 

cultivated ground, particularly strawberry 

fields. 

This plant is readily identified by the 
great difference between its root leaves and 
stem-leaves ; the basal leaves being thick of 
texture, bright green, rounded heart-shaped 
or kidney-shaped, with scalloped edges and 
long petioles ; the stem-leaves, three- to five- 
parted, with wedge-shaped or linear seg- 
ments, the lowermost with short petioles, 
those near the top sessile ; all are smooth, 
as is also the stem, which is erect, slender, 
many-branched, six to eighteen inches tall. 
Flowers numerous but very small, the pale 
yellow petals being hardly noticeable and 
shorter than the reflexed sepals. The small 
seed-head is globose, the carpels minute, 
tipped with a mere bristly point. (Fig. 
105.) 

Means of control 

Better drainage ; for this Crowfoot is 
a plant that demands moisture. Early 
cutting with hoe or spud in order that no 
seed may be permitted to develop. 




Fig. 105. — Small- 
flowered Crowfoot {Ra- 
nuncidus abortivus). X \- 



156 



RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



EARLY BUTTERCUP 

Ranunculus fasciciddris, Muhl. 

Other English names: Early Crowfoot, Tufted buttercup. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : April to May. 

Seed-time: Late May to July. 

Range: New England and Ontario to Manitoba, southward to the 

Carolinas, Texas, and Arkansas. 
Habitat : Hillsides ; upland fields and pastures. 

The earliest of the Buttercups ; it springs from a tuft or bundle 
of roots, which look as though meant to be fibrous but are thickened 
and fleshy. Stems tufted, six inches to a 
foot high, the whole plant covered with fine, 
silky, close-pressed hairs. Leaves small, 
three-parted, the terminal segment long- 
stalked and again thrice divided ; the peti- 
oles slender. Flowers almost an inch 
broad, glossy yellow, often with more than 
five petals, which are spatulate and much 
longer than the spreading calyx. Seed- 
head globose, each achene tipped with a 
curved and awl-like beak about as long 
as itself. (Fig. 106.) 



Means of control 

The hilly nature of the ground on which 
this weed grows best very often forbids its 
cultivation because the fertile top soil is in 
danger of washing down the slopes. But 
cattle reject the plant, the seeds mature 
and scatter, and the weed gradually en- 
croaches until the turf is ruined. The 
hoe-cutting in the first days of bloom. 




Fig. 106. — Early But- 
tercup (Ranunculus fasci- 
cular is). X i. 

best remedy is deep 



CREEPING BUTTERCUP 

Ranunculus repens, L. 

Native and introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by 

stolons. 
Time of bloom: May to July. 



RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



157 



Seed-time : Late June to August. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Virginia. On the Atlantic Coast an immi- 
grant from Europe, but several varieties are native in the West 
and the South. 

Habitat: Moist meadows and pastures, roadsides, waste places. 

Where this plant is plentiful it is likely to monopolize a large 
amount of space ; for after the early bloom is past its energies are 
devoted, for the remainder of the grow- 
ing season, to throwing out numerous 
slender runners, one to three feet long, 
from every joint of which a young plant 
may take root. The roots are fibrous 
and tufted ; the stem is about a foot 
high, and hairy, but often only slightly 
so ; the runners also are usually hairy at 
the base, the leaves on veins and peti- 
oles. Leaves three-parted, all three 
segments usually, and the terminal one 
always, with a footstalk; all irregularly 
cut and toothed, often blotched with 
white. Flowers bright golden yellow, 
nearly an inch broad, the petals ob- 
ovate, much longer than the spreading 
sepals. Fruits in globose heads, the 
achenes flattened and having a thin mar- 
gin and a stout, bent beak. (Fig. 107.) 




Fig. 107. — Creeping But- 
tercup {Ranunculus repens). 
Xi 



Means of control 

Its manner of growth causes the weed 
to form patches, which, if not too many 

and too large, may be cleaned out with the hoe, of course before 
the first seed is developed. Ground too rankly overspread to be 
so cleansed should be put under cultivation for a season. 



BULBOUS BUTTERCUP 

Ranunculus bulbosus, L. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to July. 
Seed-time: July to October. 



158 



RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



Range: Throughout the United States and southern Canada, but 

most abundant in the eastern part. 
Habitat: Meadows, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 

The range of this weed has of late years greatly increased, mostly 
by the agency of baled hay. It is one of the most acrid of its tribe, 
the juices causing blisters w^hen applied to the skin, and cattle can- 
not eat it in the green state; but drying seems to deprive it of 
this dangerous quality, and therefore less 
strenuous endeavor is made for its extermi- 
nation than is deserved by so noxious a 
weed. 

The bulbous base of this plant is w^ell 
fringed with long, fibrous, feeding roots. 
Several stems usually grow from the same 
root-tuft, six to eighteen inches high, erect, 
slender, more or less branched, grooved and 
hairy. Lower leaves long-petioled, three- 
parted, with the segments again usually 
three-cleft, sharply toothed, the terminal 
segment having a somewhat lengthened 
stalk. Stem-leaves much smaller, less di- 
vided and sessile. Flowers bright yellow, 
so lustrous that they reflect light, about 
an inch broad, the petals much longer than 
the hairy, reflexed sepals ; the blossoms 
are often partly double, the peduncles slen- 
der and grooved. Head globose, contain- 
ing many small flattened, short-beaked carpels, so nearly of 
the size and weight of grass seeds that they are very difficult of 
separation. (Fig. 108.) 

Means of control 

Hand-digging will pay if the infestation is new and the plants 
not so numerous as to make the task impracticable ; but it is worth 
considerable trouble to save a plot from being fouled by the seeds. 
Ground too rankly infested to be so cleansed should be broken up, 
put to cultivated crops, and be given thorough tillage for one or 
two seasons. 




Fig. 108. — Bulbous 
Buttercup (Ranunculus 
bulbosus). X J. 



RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



159 



MEADOW BUTTERCUP 

Ranunculus dcris, L. 

Other English names: Tall Crowfoot, Butter Flower, Blister Flower, 

(xoldcup, Kingcup. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to September. 
Seed-time: June to October. 
Range : Throughout the United States and Canada ; most common 

and troublesome at the North. 
Habitat: Meadows, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 

The juices of this weed are so acrid as to draw blisters when 
applied to the skin. Grazing cattle seem to know its character and 
shun the plant. This irritant 
quality is dispelled in drying, 
however, and, though as hay the 
plant is woody and innutritions, 
it will not then injure the mouths 
and intestines of animals that 
eat it. 

Stem two to three feet tall, 
springing from clustered and 
fibrous roots, erect, hollow, hairy, 
branched at top. Basal leaves 
tufted, three- to seven-parted, 
the divisions again cleft into 
several narrow, pointed lobes ; 
petioles long, slender, and hairy ; 
upper leaves short-petioled, dis- 
tant, usually three-parted. 
Flowers bright yellow, nearly an 
inch broad, the five petals broadly 
obovate, much longer than the 
spreading calyx. Fruits in small, 
globose heads, the achenes some- 
what compressed, and with short- 
pointed beaks. (Fig. 109.) 

Means of control 

Where the plants are few, pulling and hoe-cutting will repay the 
labor ; but grass lands too rankly cursed with Ranunculus should 




— Meadow 
{Ranunculus acris). 



Buttercup 

xi. 



160 



RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



be broken up and put to cultivated crops, and well fertilized and 
tilled for a year or two before being reseeded heavily with clean 



THIMBLEWEED 

Anemone virginiana, L. 

Other English names: Tall Anemone, Virginia Anemone. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Tiyne of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Nova Scotia and Maine to Manitoba and Minnesota, 

southward to the Carolinas and Kansas. 
Habitat: Upland meadows and pastures, borders of woods, and 

fence rows ; waste places. 



A tall, hairy plant which is rejected by grazing animals, either 
as hay or as green forage. Stem two to three feet high, with a 

few tufted leaves at its base and a 
whorl of three involucral leaves at the 
base of its flower-stalks. Base-leaves 
broader than long, three-parted, the 
segments broadly wedge-shaped and 
again cut into pointed and sharply 
toothed lobes ; they are softly hairy 
and have prominent veins and long, 
slender petioles. The three involucral 
leaves have short petioles and are also 
three-parted, the lateral segments twice 
and the middle one thrice divided, 
and sharply toothed. If the plant 
bears but one flower, its peduncle is 
leafless, but usually there are several 
lateral stalks and these have a two- 
leaved, short-petioled involucel at the 
middle. Flowers a half-inch to an inch 
broad, without petals but having five 
greenish white sepals surrounding a 
thick central tuft of many yellow sta- 
FiG. 110. - Thimbleweed ^^^^ ^^^ awl-shaped styles. Seed- 
(Anemone virginiana). xh heads oblong, cylindric, about three- 




RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



161 



fourths of an inch long and half as thick; achenes flattened, 
pointed by the withered styles, and densely woolly, which makes 
them easy to be distributed by the wind. (Fig. 110.) 

Means of control 

Prevent formation of seed by cutting or pulling while in early 
bloom. Cultivation of the ground at once destroys the weed. 



FIELD LARKSPUR 

Delphinium Consolida, L. 

Other English names: Knight's Spur, Lark-heel. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Rojige: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, 

southward to Florida ; locally in the Northern 

States. 
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

A lovely plant, both in leaf and flower, brought 
to this country to beautify our gardens and grow- 
ing wild as an "escape." In Europe its leaves 
are reputed to be poisonous to cattle, particularly 
when the plant is young and growing rapidly, but 
in this country it is regarded as far less dangerous 
than the native perennial Larkspurs so common 
in the West. 

Stems erect, smooth or nearly so, one to two 
feet in height, the branches spreading at wide 
angles. Leaves deep green, sessile or with very 
short petioles, palmately compound, the lobes 
again divided into numerous linear, cleft segments. 
Flowers in loose, terminal racemes, blue or violet- 
purple, sometimes lilac or white ; they are very 
irregular, with five colored sepals, the upper one 
extending into a long, curved spur at the base ; 
petals two in this species, with base enclosed in 
the spur of the calyx and united. Fruit a single 
erect, smooth follicle, tipped with a slender beak 



Fig. 111. — 
Field Larkspur 
(D elphinium 
Consolida). X\. 



162 RANUNCULACKAE {CROWFOOT FAMIT.Y) 

formed of the persistent style, and containing many angled, 
roughened, black seeds, which are sometimes an impurity of grass 
seeds and grain. (Fig. 111.) 

Means of control 

Small areas and plants in grain fields are best destroyed by hand- 
pulling at the time of first flowering, when the weed is most con- 
spicuous among surrounding crops. Infested meadows, waste 
land, and roadsides should be closely cut while the plants are in 
early bloom, thus preventing reproduction. 



DWARF LARKSPUR 

Delphinium tricorne, Michx. 

Other English name: Stagger Weed. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to June. 

Seed-time : June to July. 

Range: Pennsylvania to Minnesota and Nebraska, southward to 

Georgia and Arkansas. 
Habitat: Upland fields, meadows, and pastures, open woods, and 

waste places. 

The range of the Dwarf Larkspur includes much grazing land, 
and the losses caused by it yearly are very considerable. It is 
said to be the most dangerous in early spring, when the young green 
leaves are but a few inches above the ground. Full-grown plants 
not only contain less of the poisonous properties, but are less 
attractive as forage, and it is stated that deaths from Larkspur 
poisoning nearly always occur before the plants are in bloom. 

Stem rather stout, simple, nearly smooth, succulent, six to 
fifteen inches tall, springing from tuberous and clustered roots. 
Leaves palmate, on long petioles, each of the five lobes again 
deeply but unequally three- to five-cleft. Panicles loose and open, 
bearing usually not more than six or eight bright blue flowers about 
an inch in length ; the upper sepal, or spur, is nearly straight and 
ascending ; petals four, the two upper ones yellowish with blue 
lines, the lower two bearded inside with white hairs. Follicles 
three or four, widely divergent, each about an inch long, tipped 



RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



163 



with a short beak. The seeds are smooth. 
As soon as they mature the foh'age dies 
down and the plant seems to be dead. 
(Fig. 112.) 

Means of conirol 

The perennial roots must be killed and 
that is most quickly and certainly accom- 
plished by removing them from the soil. 
The clustering tubers do not lie very 
deeply beneath the surface and may be 
readily grubbed out, or even pulled by 
hand, w^hen the ground is soft. Hand- 
labor is expensive, but the price of a valu- 
able cow w^ould pay the wages of an 
ordinary farm laborer for a considerable 
time. Land too rankly infested to be 
so cleansed should be put under thorough 
cultivation and then heavily reseeded. 

SKY-BLUE LARKSPUR 

Delphinium azureum, Michx. 
{Delphinium carolinianum, Walt.) 




Fig. 1 12. — Dwarf Lark- 
spur (Delphinium tricorne). 



Other English names: Carolina Larkspur, 

Azure-flowered Larkspur. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates hj seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to July. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range: Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, to Arkansas and 

Missouri, northward to Minnesota and the Saskatchewan. 
Habitat: Prairies, fields, and meadows. 

A very beautiful species often cultivated in gardens. Stem one 
to two feet in height, slender, clothed in very fine, ashy-gray hairs. 
Leaves deeply three- to five-parted, the lobes with very slender, 
almost linear bases, and each again twice or thrice divided into 
narrowly linear segments ; petioles long and slender, dilated at the 
base. Racemes terminal, four to eight inches long, the flowers 
numerous, large, short-pedicelled, deep sky-blue occasionally 



164 RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 

varying to white; the spur is long, and usually lies horizontally 
with the tip tilted upward ; four petals shorter than the sepals, 
the lower two densely bearded within. Follicles in threes, about 
an inch long, covered with fine down, and tipped with an awl-like 
beak ; they are held erect or very slightly spreading, their pedicels 
close to the stalk. Seeds about a tenth of an inch long, angled, 
and roughened with transverse wrinkles. 

Means of control the same as for Dwarf Larkspur. 

TALL MOUNTAIN LARKSPUR 

Delphinium glaiicum, S. Wats. 

Other English names: Cow Poison, Smooth Larkspur, Large Lark- 
spur. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: California, Idaho, and Montana, northward to Alaska. 

Habitat: Foothills and mountain valley pastures to an altitude of 
about nine thousand feet. 

The chief sufferers from this noxious plant are cattle, since sheep 
are seldom driven to the mountain pastures before July and by that 
time the plant has grown too large and coarse for their cropping 
and is besides less virulent than in its younger stages. It is when 
the tufted base leaves first appear in April and May that they are 
most dangerous and also most succulent and tempting to stock. 
Frequently the danger is increased by the fall of light spring snows, 
which cover the young grass, and the Larkspur's taller foliage is 
the only forage showing green above the snow. 

Stem four to seven feet tall, stout, simple, ridged, and covered 
with a white bloom (glaucous). The base leaves which first rise 
from the thick, woody roots are long-petioled, smooth, glaucous, 
four to six inches broad, rounded in outline, five- to seven-lobed, 
the segments rather broad, long-pointed, and deeply cut; the 
lower stem leaves are smaller, with fewer lobes, becoming simple 
and lance-shaped as they ascend the stalk. Raceme terminal, 
long and slender, the flowers numerous, rather small, pale blue or 
white. Follicles in threes, smooth, erect, tipped with a short 
beak ; the seeds are black. 



RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 165 

Means of control 

Herding cattle away from places where the plant abounds during 
the spring months, when it is most dangerous. But in some 
localities it is considered that extermination by digging would be 
feasible and a paying investment of labor. An instance is given by 
Chesnut ^ and Wilcox of a Montana range where forty cattle had 
died in a single month from eating this plant. " A careful inspec- 
tion of this range showed that the Tall Larkspur was entirely con- 
fined to a few areas of small size. It is believed that it could all be 
completely exterminated by twenty-five days' work with a weed 
digger designed for severing the roots at a short distance below the 
ground. The expense of this labor would not exceed the value of 
two cattle and this number is much less than the average annual 
loss from the Tall Larkspur on this range." Similar conditions 
prevail on many other ranges. 



PURPLE LARKSPUR 

Delphinium bicolor, Nutt. 

Other English name : Poison Weed. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to August, according to altitude. 
Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Colorado and Wyoming to Oregon, northward to Alaska. 
Habitat: Hillsides, bench lands, and mountain ranges up to about 
ten thousand feet. 

Very common in most parts of its range and much less restricted 
in its habitat than the Tall Larkspur, this plant is considered by 
stockmen even more pernicious. Sheep are most often its victims 
but other stock also are affected. It is a small plant, six to fifteen 
inches tall, smooth or only slightly hairy, rather stout for its height, 
the stem rising from thick, fascicled, deep-set roots. Leaves deeply 
five- to seven-parted, the segments again divided into nearly linear 
lobes, which on the lower leaves have rounded tips but above be- 
come more slim and pointed. They are succulent and liked by 
grazing animals only when young, the time when they are mostharm- 

1 The Stock-poisoning Plants of Montana : A preliminary report. Bulletin 
No. 26, Division of Botany, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



166 RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 

ful. Raceme terminal, the flowers few but large, often exceeding 
an inch in width, the sepals and the spurs of about the same length 
and of a deep, rich purple ; the two upper petals pale yellow or 
white, and netted over with purple veins. Follicles three, smooth, 
erect or sometimes recurving. Like the Buttercups, Larkspurs 
seem to lose much, if not all, of their toxic quality when dried in 
hay; but, unfortunately, the seeds retain vitality, and, when the 
hay is baled and sold, are likely to increase the range of a very 
noxious weed. 

Means of control 

In restricted localities and small areas, the perennial roots may 
be pulled or grubbed out or the land may be put under cultivation 
and reseeded. But on open ranges, the only practicable way seems 
to be to guard the animals by herding them away from the weed 
until it becomes so mature that they will eat other forage in pref- 
erence. 

SMALL LARKSPUR 

Delphinium Menziesii, DC. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : April to July, varying with altitude. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range : Northern Colorado to California, and northward to British 

Columbia. 
Habitat: Hillsides and mountain valleys, ascending to about eight 

thousand feet. 

As this plant seldom exceeds a foot in height, stockmen and 
herders are accustomed to speak of it, and also of Delphinium hi- 
color, as the "Little Larkspurs," in contradistinction to their 
neighbor, Delphinium glaucum, which sometimes attains seven feet 
and is called the "Big Larkspur" or "Large Larkspur." It is 
generally regarded as less poisonous than D. hicolor, although 
E. V. Wilcox ^ reports a case on a Montana range where a flock 
of six hundred sheep were poisoned by it, of which two hundred 
and fifty died ; and the same poisonous alkaloid, called clelpho- 

1 "Thirty Poisonous Plants of the United States." Farmers' Bulletin No. 
8G, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



RANUNCULACEAE {CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



167 



curariii, has been extracted from both 
these species. (Fig. 113.) 

The plant springs from a chister of 
thickish, oblong tubers, fringed with fine 
feeding rootlets. Stem simple, slender, 
often bent or flexuous, both it and the 
foliage finely hairy ; the lower leaves 
have long petioles, slightly dilated at 
base, and are deeply five-parted, the 
segments again twice or thrice divided ; 
the upper leaves are small, oftenest of 
three nearl}^ linear segments. Raceme 
terminal, slender, the flowers few, on 
long, nearly erect pedicels ; they are large 
and showy, deep violet-blue, the sepals 
and the spurs nearly equal in length, 
bearded outside ; the two upper petals 
are yellowish but are distinguishable 
from B. bicolor because they are not 
net-veined. Follicles three, widely re- 
curving at maturity, the seeds black and 
winged on the outer angles. 

Means of control the same as for Del- 
phinium bicolor. 

WESTERN LARKSPUR 




Fig. 113. — Small or 
Menzies Larkspur (Del- 
phinium Menziesii). X h 



Delphinium trollifdUum, Gray 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: April to June. 

Seed-time: June to August. 

Range: Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia. 

Habitat : Moist soil along streams, foothills ; meadows and pastures. 



A very beautiful plant but in some localities it bears the un- 
pleasant names of Cow-poison or Cow-killer. Stem two to five feet 
tall, slender, leafy. Leaves large, three- to seven-parted, often 
somewhat kidney-shaped at base, the segments wedge-shaped and 
deeply cut and lobed at the tips. Racemes large and loose, often 



168 



BERBERIDACEAE {BARBERRY FAMILY) 



more than a foot long in the larger plants ; flowers large and 
deep blue with the two upper petals white ; spur and sepals about 

equal in length, often three- 
fourths of an inch. Follicles 
smooth, the seeds with a thin 
margin or wing at the end. 
(Fig. 114.) 

Means of control the same as 
for the Purple Larkspur. 





Fig. 114. — Western Larkspur {Del- Fig. 115. 
phinium trollifolium) . X i- 



Common Barberry {Berberis 
vulgaris). X h 



COMMON BARBERRY 

Berberis vulgaris, L. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to June. 

Seed-time: Fruit ripe in September, but persistent on the stems 

until winter. 
Range: Eastern and Middle United States. 
Habitat: Fence rows, thickets, and waste ground. 



PAP AVE RACE AE (POPPY FAMILY) 169 

The peasant farmers of Europe, long before science had ex- 
plained " the reason why," were very certain that wheat fields would 
be smitten with rust if Barberry bushes grew near by, and insisted 
on their extirpation. Doctor William Darlington, in his most 
instructive book on "American Weeds and Useful Plants" pub- 
lished in 1847, sarcastically mentions that "It was formerly a 
popular belief and one that prevails yet to some extent, that the 
Barberry possesses the power of blasting grain ; the fallacy of this 
idea has been proved." But popular belief was right, nevertheless, 
for it is now known that the wheat-rust fungus {Puccinia graminis) 
passes one stage of its life on the leaves of the Barberry. 

The plant is a shrub, four to eight feet high ; leaves alternate or 
fascicled, one to two inches long, obovate, obtuse, thick, smooth, 
bristly-toothed, growing in the axils of small, three-forked spines. 
Flowers in pendulous racemes, yellow, each with six roundish sepals, 
six petals, upcurved and with two small glands at the base, six 
stamens, sensitive, springing up against the stigma when touched. 
Fruit an oblong, scarlet berry ; birds eat the fruit and void the seeds 
in thickets and along the fences, which accounts for the frequency of 
the plants in such places. (Fig. 115.) 

Mearis of control 

Plants that menace the grain fields should be grubbed out and 
destroyed, but in the house grounds or the garden borders there is 
no shrub more graceful and attractive. 



GREAT CELANDINE 

Chelidbnium majus, L. 

Other English names: Swallow-wort, Tetterwort, Felonwort, Wart- 
weed, Kill-wart, Devil's Milk. 
Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: April to August. 
Seed-time: June to September. 
Range: Maine to Ontario, southward to Virginia. 
Habitat: Farmyards, roadsides, waste places, borders of woods. 

Chelidon means a swallow, and it is said that the swallows come 
with the first opening flower of this plant and go as the last bloom 



170 



PAPAVERACEAE {POPPY FAMILY) 



fades. When bruised, the weed exudes an orange-colored juice 
with a disagreeable odor, bitter and acrid, once considered a sure 
cure for warts, corns, pimples, boils, and "tetters" of every kind, 
even to the painful felon. It still has good standing in the United 
States Pharmacopoeia, and the drug market pays collectors six to 
eight cents a pound for the herb, pulled 
entire when in full flower and carefully 
dried. 

Stems one to two feet high, weak, brittle, 
sparsely hairy, and swollen at the joints. 
Leaves large, thin, gray-green, once or twice 
pinnatifid, the segments deeply cut and 
scallop-toothed ; petioles dilated at base 
and clasping the stem. Flowers in axillary 
umbellate clusters, the peduncles about as 
long as the leaves, the pedicels of unequal 
length ; stamens many ; style extremely 
short with two-lobed stigma; sepals two; 
petals four, bright yellow, arranged cross- 
wise, each blossom about a half-inch broad. 
Pods smooth, one to two inches long, two- 
valved, opening at the base ; seeds smooth, 
shining, dark brown, bearing on the side 

a„dL°e(«;e^.o*;r^«: '^ ^1^^^ <^^'^^' "ke a cock's comb. (Fig. 
jus). x\. 116.) 




Means of control 

Destroy first-year leaf -tufts by hoe-cutting ; prevent seed pro- 
duction in the second year by cutting the flowering stalks while in 
early bloom. 

FIELD POPPY 



Papdver Rhwas, L. 

Other English names: Corn Poppy, Redweed, Canker Rose. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time oj bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Semi-arid lands of the Southwest, where seed-wheat from 



PAPAVERACEAE (POPPY FAMILY) 



171 



southern Europe has been sown, 
troublesome as a weed. 
Habitat: Grain fields. 



Occasional elsewhere but not 



This is the pest which for centuries has made the wheat fields 
of Europe gorgeous with its color, and it is strange that it has not 
made greater headway in this country. Its seeds are most tena- 
cious of life when in the soil. 

Stems one to three feet high, slender, 
erect, many-branched, set with short, 
spreading hairs. The whole plant is filled 
with bitter, milky juices. Leaves all pin- 
natifid, the lobes lance-shaped, pointed, 
sharply toothed, the lower ones petioled, 
the upper ones smaller and sessile. Buds 
nodding, enclosed in two, or occasionally 
three, hairy sepals that fall away as the 
flower unfolds ; these are very large, two 
to four inches broad ; petals four to six, 
broader than long, of thin silken texture, 
bright scarlet with a dark blotch at the 
base ; stamens man}'. Capsule top-shaped, 
the stigmatic disk at its apex usually ten- 
rayed, and with as many cells as rays, 
filled with very many small, brown seeds. 
(Fig. 116.) 




Fig. 117. — Field Poppy 
(Papaver Rhceas) . X \- 



Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Poppy seed is so verv 
small that a good fanning mill should be able to remove it 
completely from all seeds of grass and grain. If the area infested 
is not too great to make the task impracticable, hand-pull the 
plants when the first bright bloom appears and burn them. 
Let none mature seed. 



LONG SMOOTH-FRUITED POPPY 

Pa paver duhium, L. 
Annual. .Propagates by seed. 



Introduced 

Time of bloom: June to August 



172 



PAP AVERAGE AE (POPPY FAMILY) 



Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Southern Pennsylvania and Ohio to Virginia, and south- 
ward. 
Habitat: Cultivated ground and waste places. 

Not a troublesome weed in this country, but called Corn Poppy in 
Europe, where wheat is called corn. It is similar to the preceding 
species but is taller and more slender, with pinnatifid leaves more 
finely divided and very hairy. Flowers two inches broad, light 
scarlet, on long and very bristly petioles. Capsule tapering from 
the base, smooth, club-shaped, the stigmatic cap at its top six- to 
ten-rayed and smooth. 

Means of control the same as for the Field Poppy. 







Fig. 118. — Prickly 
Poppy {Argemone mexi- 
cana). X i- 



PRICKLY POPPY 

Argembne mexicdna, L. 

Other English names: Mexican Poppy, 
Thistle Poppy, Devil's Fig.^ 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propa- 
gates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: New Jersey, Ohio, and the Middle 
Western States, southward to Florida, 
Texas, Arizona, and southern California. 
Naturalized throughout the Tropics in 
Asia, Australia, the South Sea Islands, 
and Africa. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, waste places. 

In some countries this plant is cultivated 
for the valuable painter's oil expressed from 
its seeds, but in many parts of the United 
States it is a very troublesome weed, for, 
in addition to its exceeding prickliness, it 
is protected by bitter, yellow juices, said 
to be poisonous. 

Stem one to two feet high, stout, simple 
or with few branches, usually very prickly 
but sometimes nearly or quite unarmed. 
Leaves four to eight inches long and half 
as wide, glaucous, blotched with white, 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 173 

sinuate-pinnatifid, spiny-toothed and more or less prickly on 
midrib and larger veins, sessile and clasping. Flowers lemon- 
yellow or cream-colored, two or three inches broad, sessile or 
on very short peduncles ; sepals long and prickle-pointed ; 
stamens many with filaments a half-inch or more long. Capsule 
an inch or more long, ellipsoid, prickly, opening by three to six 
valves at the top. Seeds small, grayish brown, crested on one 
side. (Fig. 118.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production. Pull, hoe-cut, or spud out autumn 
leaf -tufts ; closely and frequently cut flowering stalks while in 
early bloom. Cultivation of the ground destroys the weed if con- 
tinued for a sufficient time to stir all dormant seeds into growth. 

GRAY BERTEROA 

Berteroa incdna, DC. 

Other English name: Hoary Alyssum. 

Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range : Maine to Michigan, southward to New Jersey and Missouri. 

Habitat: Grain and clover fields, waste places. 

This weed came from western Europe but a few years ago, in red 
clover seed, from which it is very hard to remove. Wherever 
established, it has shown itself to be about as prolific and adaptive 
as Field Pepper grass, and therefore newly entered plants should 
meet with prompt and severe treatment. (Fig. 119.) 

Stem one to two feet tall, slender, with numerous slim branches 
near the top, gray-green with fine, forking hairs. Basal leaves 
three or four inches long, spatulate, usually grouped in a small 
rosette ; stem-leaves alternate, lance-shaped, sessile ; all have entire 
edges. Flow^ers in crowded terminal racemes, and, like all the 
Cruciferse, have six stamens, four long and two short; four 
sepals, four petals, arranged in cross-form and situated below the 
ovary ; in this species they are white, minute, the petals cleft at 
the tip. Pods elliptic and but little compressed silicles, gray-hairy 



174 



(JRUCIFERAE (MUSTARD FAMILY) 




Fig. 119. — Gray Ber- 
teroa (Berteroa incana). 



like the rest of the plant, about a quarter- 
inch long, divided into two cells by a trans- 
parent papery partition, which remains on 
the thread-like pedicel after the seeds have 
fallen — like an eyeglass in a rim. Each 
cell contains about a half-dozen flattened 
brown seeds. 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Plants newly established 
in clover field or meaflow should be hand- 
pulled or cut by themselves and burned, 
for their seeds not only will foul the ground, 
but also, if cured wdth the hay, will be made 
certain of further distribution. Their hairy 
surface makes these weeds susceptible to 
injury from sprays such as Iron or Copper 
Sulfate applied when buds are developing. 
Early spring and late autumn cultivation 
will destroy the seedlings and rosettes. 

PENNY CRESS 
Thldspi arrense, L. 



Other English names : Frenchweed, Stink- 
weed, Stinking Mustard, Bastard Cress, 
Wild Garlic. 

Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Ti7ne of bloom: As soon as snow melts in spring, beginning on 
autumn plants already budded ; spring seedlings bloom later 
and continue until fall. 
Seed-time : Autumn plants ripen seed in early July. Spring seedlings 

mature fruit in August. Both continue seeding until winter. 
Range : Northern and Middle Western United States ; in all Cana- 
dian provinces, but most abundant in Manitoba and the 
Northwest Territory. 
Habitat: Grainfields, meadows, roadsides and waste places. 

This weed is perhaps the most hated enemy of the western farmer, 
and is considered to have caused greater loss than any other in- 
truder in the grain fields of Minnesota, the Dakotas, and western 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



175 



Canada. It is immensely prolific and its seeds have long vitality. 
Cold does it no harm and chemical sprays that kill other 
Mustards do not in the least affect it. Other crops cannot crowd 
it out, for it is the better crowder, seeding in dense timothy sod 
almost as readily as in a mellow fallow. Blooming "from snow 
to snow" and constantly developing fruit, 
it requires and absorbs much of the food 
and moisture in the soil, starving the ac- 
companying crops almost to worthless- 
ness. T. N. Willing, Chief Weed Inspector 
of the Northwest Territory, says, "It 
will pay well to drop all other work and 
fight this weed when it is first noticed." 
(Fig. 120.) ^ 

Stem six inches to two feet tall, smooth, 
bright green, often simple but usually 
branching at the top. Root-leaves long 
oval, broadest at tip, with long petioles ; 
stem-leaves lance-shaped and clasping 
with a pair of pointed ears at the base ; 
all leaves coarsely toothed. When bruised, 
the plant exhales a most disgusting gar- 
licky odor; if it is eaten by milch cows, 
the dairy products are spoiled. Flowers 
clear white, very small, in thick, flat 
terminal clusters ; beginning to mature at 
the bottom of the cluster, they leave be- 
hind a long raceme of the fruits, standing 
out on slender, wiry, upcurved pedicels 
about as long as themselves. Silicles flat, 
about three-fourths of an inch across, 
pale green at first, broadly winged at the 
sides, notched at the top, two-celled, the division being across 
the narrowest part, as in Shepherd's Purse ; each side contains 
two to eight seeds. As the pods ripen they turn to a rusty 
orange color, making the weed very conspicuous when grow- 
ing with grain or clover. Seeds deep reddisli brown, flattened 
ovoid, roughened with fine curved ridges about a central groove. 




Fig. 120. — Penny Cress 
{Thlaspi arvense). X i- 



176 CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 

A very few of these seeds ground by accident with a grist of wheat, 
ruins the flour, and grain that contains them is very sharply cut 
in price. 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. If the infestation is new, hand-pull and destroy 
all plants before any fruits mature, even though the task be very 
strenuous. In grain fields, if seeds have been allowed to ripen, 
burn over the stubbles for the purpose of destroying those that have 
fallen on the ground. Give surface cultivation in order to encour- 
age germination of such seeds as are in the soil, and plow the young 
plants under while still in the rosette stage of growth. But never 
turn under any plants bearing developed pods, even though they 
may be green, for they go on ripening on the stalks, when under the 
warm soil, quite as well as or better than above it. Autumn- 
grown plants are the most obnoxious, since they come earliest into 
bloom and fruit the next season, and every effort should be made to 
kill as many of these as possible. Spring seedlings may be dragged 
out of grain fields with small-toothed weeding harrows, beginning 
when the grain is only about three inches high and repeating the 
operation once or twice afterwards — a treatment which greatly 
benefits the crop at the same time that it kills the weeds. If 
practicable, put the ground to a cultivated crop, which should be 
given very thorough tillage, before the land is used again for grain. 



COMMON PEPPERGRASS 

Lepidium virginicum, L. 

Other English names: Tongue Grass, Bird's Pepper. 

Native. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to September. 

Seed-time : Late June to October. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Florida, Texas, 

and Mexico. 
Habitat: Grain and clover fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

Stem six inches to two feet tall, much branched. The weed 
sometimes becomes a tumbleweed because of this spreading growth. 



CRUCIFERAE (MUSTARD FAMILY) 



177 



Lower leaves pinnatifid, spatulate in outline, with terminal lobe 
large and lateral lobes very small ; stem-leaves merely toothed, not 
lobed, the upper ones becoming lance-shaped and often entire. 
Flowers white, very small, on elongating racemes that are finally 
six or eight inches in length, closely set with small, round, flattened, 
two-celled silicles, notched at the outer edge and each containing 
two reddish yellow seeds. Birds are very fond of these seeds and 
dispose of large quantities ; they are a common impurity among 
clover seeds. 

Means of control the same as for Shepherd's Purse. (Fig. 121.) 





Fig. 121. — Common Pepper- 
grass {Lepidium virginicum) . 



Fig. 122. — Green- 
flowered Peppergrass 
{Lepidium apetalum). 



178 CRUCIFERAE (MUSTARD FAMILY) 

GREEN FLOWERED PEPPERGRASS 

Lcpidium apetaluru, Willd. 

Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to August. 
Seed-time: June to September. 

Range : Maine, New York, and Ontario, to the Northwest Terri- 
tory, California, and Texas. 
Habitat: Grain and clover fields, waste places. 

Similar to the native plant, but has pinnatifid root-leaves, the 
stem-leaves are fewer and more slender, and the white petals of the 
flowers are very minute, sometimes entirely lacking. The rounded 
and notched pods have a minute wing-margin at the top, slightly 
more pronounced than in the preceding species. (Fig. 122.) 

Means of control the same as for Shepherd's Purse. 

FIELD PEPPERGRASS 
Lepidium campestre, R. Br. 

Other English names: Field Cress, Cow Cress, Poor Man's Pepper, 

Yellow Seed, Mithridate Mustard. 
Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seed. 
Time of bloom : April to July. 
Seed-time: Late May to August. 
Range: New Brunswick and Ontario to Michigan, southward to 

Virginia and the Middle Western States ; also on the Pacific 

Coast. 
Habitat: Grain and clover fields, meadows, roadsides, and waste 

places. 

A weed whose range is rapidly w^idening, mostly by the agencies 
of impure grass and clover seed. Stem ten to eighteen inches tall, 
erect, branching at the top, gray-green wdth fine, downy hair. 
Root-leaves tufted, spatulate, two to four inches long, tapering to 
petioles ; stem-leaves arrow-shaped, slightly toothed, sessile and 
clasping the stem with an auricled base ; all leaves softly downy. 
Flowers white, the petals so small as to be hardly noticeable. 
Silicles ovate, rough, concave above, convex below, winged and 
notched at the tip, the style protruding from the notch. Seeds 
reddish yellow, very pungent to the taste. 



CRVCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



179 



Means of control 

Infested grain fields and meadows should be sprayed with Iron 
sulfate or Copper sulfate before the first flowers mature. Stubbles 
should be cultivated after harvest in order to destroy autumn 
seedlings. 

SWINE CRESS 

Coronopus didymus, Sm. 
{Senebiera didyma, Pers.) 

Other English names : Lesser Wart Cress, Carpet Cress. 
Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: March to June. 
Seed-ti7ne: Early May to August. 

Range: Newfoundland to Florida and Texas, westward to Cali- 
fornia. 
Habitat: Yards, roadsides, waste places. 



Grazing cattle usually avoid plants with a disagreeable odor, but 
they seem to make an exception of the Mustards. The smell of 
this weed is suggestive of a pigsty, 
whence its name of Swine Cress ; it 
is occasionally the cause of damaged 
dairy products. (Fig. 123.) 

Stems four inches to a foot in 
length, prostrate, diffusely branched, 
hairy, spreading on all sides from 
the root. Leaves very deeply pin- 
natifid, some but once, others with 
the segments also cut ; upper ones 
sessile but those near the base having 
slender petioles. Flowers white, ex- 
tremely small, in slender axillary 
racemes on short, threadlike pedicels. 
Autumn plants flower earliest, com- 
ing into bloom as soon as uncovered 
from winter snows. Silicles small, wrinkled, warty, the two 
valves separating readily into two ovoid nutlets, each con- 
taining one seed. 




Fig. 



123. — Swine Cress (Corona- 
pus didymus). X i- 



180 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



Means of control 

Carpet Cress usually grows in patches, which should be hoed out 
very early in spring before any seeds are developed. Successive 
crops will probably appear from seeds that have lain dormant in the 
soil, and these should be given like treatment. 



SHEPHERD'S PURSE 

Capsella Bursa-'pastbris, Medic. 

Other English names: Caseweed, St. James' Weed, Mothers' Hearts. 

Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: March to November in the northern part of the 

country. All the year round where not covered with snow for 

autumn seedlings bloom in winter if not checked by cold and spring 

seedlings take up the succession in summer. 

Seed-time : April to December. 

Range: All cultivated regions of the world. 

Habitat : Any soil ; invades any crop. 



With the exception of Chickweed, this is 
probably the commonest weed on earth. But 
usually it is not regarded with so much hos- 
tility as are some other plants that really do less 
harm. It is very prolific and the seeds have 
long vitality ; it absorbs much fertility from the 
soil ; and it often harbors the club-root fungous 
disease so ruinous to cabbage, cauliflower, tur- 
nips, and radishes, and will infect soil where 
those plants may be cultivated. (Fig. 124.) 

The plant is extremely variable, but ordi- 
narily it has a rather deep taproot with many 
slender rootlets, and the stem is slender and 
branching, six to twenty inches high. Base 
leaves usually pinnatifid and tufted in a ro- 
sette, though late spring seedlings often send 
up a fruiting stalk directly from the root, with- 
out the tuft of lower leaves ; upper leaves lance- 
shaped and clasping, with small, pointed auricles 
at base. Flowers white, minute, terminating a 
lengthening raceme of triangular, flattened, heart- 




FiG. 124. — Shep- 
herd's Purse (Cap- 
sella Bursa-pas- 
toris). X J. 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



181 



shaped silicles, on fine, wire-like pedicels; each "Mother's heart" 
is partitioned across its narrow thickness and each cell contains 
about ten reddish brown seeds, a thrifty plant of average size 
producing about two thousand. 



Means of control 

In cultivated ground the weed succumbs to the constant tillage 
required, but such plants as spring up after the cultivator has 
ceased its rounds should be cut or pulled and should not be allowed 
to seed the ground. Autumn rosettes should be hoe-cut in spring. 
In meadows and grain fields the weed may be killed while young 
with a spray of Iron sulfate or Copper 
sulfate. 1^ 

FALSE FLAX 

Camelina saliva, Crantz 

Other English naines : Wild Flax, Gold 
of Pleasure. 

Introduced. Annual and winter an- 
nual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloo7n: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Ontario to Manitoba, south- 
ward to Ohio, Iowa, and South 
Dakota. 

Habitat : Flax and grain fields, clover ; 
waste places. 

In Europe this plant is cultivated 
for the fine oil in its seeds and for 
mucilage, both of which are similar 
to the products obtained from flax 
seed. It was formerly believed that 
this plant was changed or degenerate 
flax, like Chess in wheat, and earl}" 
writers spoke of it as Pseudo Linum, 
or False Flax. (Fig. 125.) 

Stem eighteen inches to three feet 
tall, erect, slender, smooth, branching Fiq. 125. — False Flax {Ca- 
near the top. Lower leaves lance- melina sativa) . x\. 




182 



CRUCIFERAE (MUSTARD FAMILY) 



shaped, the base narrowing to a petiole, entire or very slightly toothed, 
somewhat hairy, especially those that form the rosettes of autumn 
plants ; upper leaves smooth, arrow-shaped, clasping the stem by an 
auricled base. Flowers yellow, very small, in racemose clusters, the 
pedicels at first fine and threadlike but lengthening and becoming 
wiry as the pods mature. The latter are pear-shaped, two-celled 
silicles and resemble a flax boll, though they are not quite so large ; 
slightly flattened, with a marginal ridge, and tipped with the per- 
sistent style which splits with the pod. Seeds brownish yellow, 
about ten to each pod. In the company of this plant is often 
found the Small-Fruited False Flax (Camelina 
microcdrpa, Andrz.), smaller and more slender, 
with pods not much more than half as large but 
the plant is said to be even more prolific than 
the commoner weed. 

Means of control similar to those given for 
Hare's-ear and Indian Mustard, the smooth foli- 
age not being susceptible to injury from spray. 

BALL MUSTARD 

Neslia paniculdta, Desv. 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by 
seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Ontario, Manitoba, and British Colum- 
bia, Minnesota and the Dakotas. 

Habitat: Grain fields and waste places. 



^iG. 12G. 
stard 
! Iculata) , 



Stem one to two feet tall, slender, usually sim- 
ple to the flowering stalk, finely roughened with 
forking hairs. Basal leaves oblong to lance- 
shaped, tapering to a slim petiole ; those on the 
stem arrow-shaped, long-pointed, clasping the 
stem with auricled base; all clothed with fine, 
branching hairs. Flowers in a terminal panicle, 
containing several slender racemes tipped with 
small clusters of orange-colored blossoms, not 
more than an eighth of an inch across ; maturing, 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



183 



the flowers leave behind a. string of bead-Hke siHcles of lesser 
diameter; as they ripen the tiny balls become netted and pitted, 
growing smaller yet, until it would take a dozen to measure 
an inch. Each ball contains one small, yellow seed, which does 
not "shell" but drops from the plant, pod and all, looking like 
a speck of dry, brown earth ; the seeds are a common impurity of 
poorly cleaned grain and are overlooked and mistaken for harmless 
dirt in seed wheat and oats. (Fig. 126.) 

Means of control the same as for Field Peppergrass. 



WILD RADISH 

Rdphanus Raphanistrum, L. 

Other English names: Jointed Charlock, 
White Charlock. 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propa- 
gates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: New Brunswick to Ontario, south- 
ward to Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and 
Ohio. Also in British Columbia. 

Habitat : Fields and waste places. 

Root slender, not sw^ollen and fleshy like 
the garden radish. Stem fifteen to thirty 
inches tall, erect, branching, sparsely set 
with fine stiff hairs, or often entirely smooth. 
Basal and root leaves deeply pinnatifid, with 
terminal lobe large, and four to six pairs of 
lateral lobes, decreasing in size toward the 
petiole, which is short; upper leaves small 
and oblong, but all are toothed and scalloped. 
Flowers about a half-inch broad or some- 
times larger, the four spreading petals pale 
yellow with purple veins, fading to white as 
they wither ; calyx-lobes drawm close to- 
gether, instead of spreading like those of 
Wild Mustard. Pods indehiscent siliques 

one to two inches long, constricted between Radish (Raphanus Ra 
the seeds, faintly grooved lengthwise but vhamstrum). xj 




Fig. 127. 



Wild 



184 CBUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 

without partitions, being stuffed with a spongy substance be- 
tween the seeds, which are larger than Mustard seed and brown. 
Because its rather thick-textured leaves are so nearly smooth, this 
weed is more resistant to injury from sprays than other wild 
Mustards and it must be fought in other ways. (Fig. 127.) 

Means of control 

Cut the tufted leaves of autumn plants from their roots with hoe 
or spud, the latter tool being preferable in grain fields. Spring seed- 
lings may be raked from the fields with a weeding harrow when the 
grain is but a few inches tall. Plants that spud, hoe, and harrow 
have missed, should be hand-pulled in their first bloom rather than 
be allowed to foul the ground with their long-lived seeds. Where 
seed has entered the soil, give stubbles surface cultivation after 
harvest, in order to stimulate germination, and then disk the ground 
about once in two weeks, so as to kill the weeds while they are 
tender. 

CHARLOCK OR WILD MUSTARD 

Brdssica arvensis, Ktze. 
{Brdssica sinapistrum, Boiss) 

Other English names: Kedluck, Skellick, Herrick, Field Kale. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of blootn: May to September. 

Seed-time: June to October. 

Range: Throughout North America except the extreme North. 

Habitat: Grain and clover fields, meadows, waste places. 

A very noxious weed because of its immense productiveness — 
more than fifteen thousand seeds having been taken from a single 
thrifty plant — and also because of the exceedingly long vitality of 
the seed when in the soil. 

Stem one to three feet tall, erect, branching toward the top, 
roughened with short, stiff hairs. Lower leaves pinnatifid, with 
the terminal lobe large, and the few lateral lobes small, the petioles 
rather stout and short ; upper leaves narrowly rhombic, sessile or 
nearly so ; all irregularly toothed and somewhat hairy ; small 
blotches of brownish red show on the stem at the junction with the 
leaves. Flowers in racemose clusters at the ends of stem and 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



185 



branches, bright yellow, fragrant, each about a half-inch broad, 

the calyx-lobes spreading ; they begin to open at the bottom of the 

cluster, which lengthens as the season advances and the pods form 

and ripen, so that there may be emptied pods below and forming 

buds above. Silique, or pod, one to two inches 

long, round and somewhat constricted between 

the seeds, veined and ribbed, and tipped with 

a long, two-edged beak ; it may contain three 

or four to a dozen or more seeds, one of which 

is usually sticking in the beak when the pod 

splits. Seeds globular, dark reddish brown, 

under a lens seen to be delicately pitted. 

They are a common impurity of grass and 

clover seeds. (Fig. 128.) 

Means of control 

In grain fields seedlings should be harrowed 
out, with one of the light harrows known as 
weeders, when the grain is but a few inches 
tall ; or later, but before the grain begins to 
head, the Mustard may be almost entirely 
destroyed b}^ the use of Iron sulfate or 
Copper sulfate spray. Stubbles should be 
surface-cultivated immediately after harvest 
in order to stir into growth such seeds as 
may be lying on the ground ; the young 
plants to be plowed under, or they may 
be profitably grazed off by sheep. Plants of 
waste places, fence rows, and roadside should 
be hand-pulled or closely cut when the flowers 
are first noticed. 

INDIAN MUSTARD 

Brdssica juncea, Cosson 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: May to July. 

Seed-time: June to August. 

Range: Ontario to Manitoba, southward to Georgia and Kansas. 

Habitat: Grain fields, roadsides, and waste places. 




Fig. 128. — Char- 
lock (Brassica arven- 
sis). X z. 



186 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



A special pest in grain fields, as its early season of bloom enables 
it to foul the ground with its seeds before the grain is ready to 
harvest and the smooth, glaucous foliage renders it impervious to 
injury from sprays that would not also kill the accompany ing crop. 
Stem one to four feet tall, erect, rather 
stout, with few branches. Lower leaves 
pinnatifid, with terminal lobe very large, 
coarsely toothed, and with long petioles ; 
upper leaves oblong, nearly entire, tapering 
to the base, all light green, rather thick, 
smooth, and glaucous. Flowers bright yellow, 
more than a half-inch broad, clustered at 
the top of racemes, which, before the pods 
are all formed, often become more than 
a foot long. Siliques one to two inches 
long, nearly a third of their length taken 
by a slim, awl -shaped, empty beak. Seeds 
globular and brown. (Fig. 129.) 

Means of control 

Harrow young seedlings from grain fields 
with a weeding harrow. Plants that survive 
the treatment should be hand-pulled while 
in early bloom. If seeds have matured and 
fallen, stubbles should be burned over for 
the purpose of destroying them. Plants of 
roadsides and waste places should also be 
pulled or cut before seed is formed. 

WHITE MUSTARD 

Brdssica alba, Boiss 
{Sindpis alba, L.) 




Fig. 129. — Indian 
Mustard (Brassica 
juncea). X \. 



Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Locallv in most parts of North America except the far 

North. 
Habitat: Cultivated ground, waste places. 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



187 



As a weed, this plant is usually the sur- 
vival of dormant seeds from former culti- 
vation, or an escape, though its seeds are 
occasionally found with those of other 
plants. 

Stems one to two feet high, branching, 
covered with stiff, spreading hairs. Lower 
leaves with slender petioles, deeply pin- 
natifid, the terminal lobe very large, the 
lateral lobes small and narrow, all toothed 
and rough-hairy ; upper leaves less divided, 
with shorter petioles or the topmost ones 
sessile. Flowers yellow, more than a half- 
inch broad, the sepals spreading and much 
shorter than the petals. Siliques round 
and very bristly, the beak often longer 
than the part containing the seeds. Seeds 
light yellow, smooth, larger than those of 
Black Mustard, milder in flavor. (Fig. 
130.) 

Means of control the same as for Char- 
lock and Black Mustard. 

BLACK MUSTARD 

Brdssica nigra, Koch. 
{Sindpis nigra, L.) 




Fig. 130. — White Mus- 
tard {Brassica alba) . X f. 



Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September.' 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: In most parts of the American Continent except the far 

North ; most abundant on the Pacific Coast. 
Habitat : Fields and waste places. 



Mustard seeds, both the Black and the White, are used in making 
a popular condiment, also in medicine, and to express a fine, clear 
oil which has little or none of the sharp flavor of Mustard. The 
United States imports these seeds to the amount of over five million 
pounds annually, at a cost of three to six cents a pound. 



188 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



Stems two to seven feet tall, or even 
more in warm southern soil, branching 
widely, sometimes hairy near the base 
but usually smooth above. Lower leaves 
pinnatifid, with the terminal lobe very 
large and the several lateral lobes small, 
toothed all around, with a long, slim 
petiole ; upper leaves less divided, becom- 
ing lance-shaped and nearly sessile at the 
top. Flowers bright yellow, a little more 
than a quarter-inch broad. This plant 
is often confused with Charlock, or Wild 
Mustard, but the difference between the 
fruits readily distinguishes them : Char- 
lock has long, knotted or wavy pods, with 
stout, two-edged beaks, while Black Mus- 
tard has short, smooth, four-angled pods, 
a half-inch to an inch long, with short, 
slim beaks ; and they are held closely 
pressed to the stalk, making the raceme 
very slender. Seeds globul ar, al most black, 
very pungent to the taste. (Fig. 131.) 
Means of control the same as for Charlock. 




Fig. 131. — Black Mustard 

(Brassica nigra). 



SAND ROCKET 

Diplotdxis murdlis, DC. 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range : ^ Nova Scotia to New Jersey and Pennsylvania, westward to 

Michigan. 
Habitat: Fields and waste places. 



Not a common weed in this country as yet, but Professor Beal 
reports that wherever found in Michigan, it " thrives and spreads at 
an alarming pace." 

Stem one to two feet high, smooth or sparsely set with bristly 
hairs, branching from the base, leafy only below. Leaves oblong to 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



189 



lance-shaped in outline but deeply 
and irregularly toothed or some- 
what pinnatifid, narrowing to peti- 
oles. Flowers in terminal racemes, 
each about a half-inch broad, 
golden yellow. Siliques about an 
inch long, linear, somewhat flat- 
tened and almost beakless, erect, 
on very slender spreading pedicels ; 
the two cells of the pod each con- 
tain a double row of small reddish 
brown, slightly flattened seeds. 
(Fig. 132.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by close 
cutting or pulling before the first 
flowers mature. 

HARE'S-EAR MUSTARD 

Conringia orientdlis, Dumort. 

Other English names : Rabbit-ears, 
Hare's-ear Cabbage, Klinkweed. 

Introduced. Annual and winter 
annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloorn : Late June to Sep- 
tember. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Ontario and Manitoba, 

Appearing locally in other states and provinces. 

Habitat : Grain and flax fields ; waste places and along railways 




Fig. 132. 



- Sand Rocket (Diplotaxis 
muralis). X i. 



Minnesota and the Dakotas. 



Brought to this country in flax seed from Europe about 1892, 
this weed has since spread through all the grain-growing section of 
the Northwest and bids fair to be still more widely known. Autumn 
plants send down a main root with many branching rootlets, and 
form a tuft of thick, smooth leaves, three to six inches long, broadly 
oval, rounded at tip and tapering toward the base, the edges entire, 
and the surface covered with a bloom like a cabbage ; in fact the 



190 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



young plants resemble cabbage. In the second season the 
fruiting stalk appears, one to four feet tall, slender but 
stiff and erect, becoming hard as wire when mature; stem 
leaves oblong, rather thick, also smooth and 
glaucous, shaped like a rabbit's ears and clasping 
the stem by two rounded auricles at the base. 
These succulent leaves, particularly on young 
autumn plants, are crisp and tender and make 
good salad and greens ; they absorb most of the 
food and moisture of the soil, and the accom- 
panying crop does not usually amount to much 
where the weed is very plentiful. Flowers cream- 
white and only about a quarter-inch broad. But 
the pods that follow on the elongating stalk are 
about four inches long when mature, slim, smooth, 
and square, each one containing about fifty brown 
seeds, rounded oblong in shape, very mucilaginous 
when wet, which causes them to stick to the feet 
of animals, to a boot-sole, or to a wagon wheel, 
and helps in their distribution. (Fig. 133.) 



/I 



I: 



Fig. 133. — 
Hare's-ear Mus- 
tard (Conringia 
orientalis). X 5. 



Means of control 

Sow clean seed. If the infestation is new, hoe or 
spud out every autumn plant and hand-pull every 
flowering stalk in its first bloom ; and if pods have 
formed, burn them, lest they ripen on the stalks. 
The smooth, waxy surface of the plant sheds 
all liquids like a duck's back and sprays cannot 
harm it. Drag out spring seedlings with a weed- 
ing harrow and disk off the autumn plants. In 
every case prevent seeding if possible. 



Other English names : 

alone. 
Introduced. Biennial 



GARLIC MUSTARD 

Allidria officinalis, Andrz. 

Hedge Garlic, Jack-by-the-hedge, Sauce- 
Propagates by seeds. 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



191 



Time of bloom : May to June. 

Seed-time: July to August. 

Range: Ontario to Ohio, southward to Virginia. 

Habitat: Roadsides, waste places, and about farmyards. 



In Europe the leaves of this plant are 
sometimes used for flavoring food in place 
of garlic, which they resemble in odor. In 
this country the plant occasionally flavors 
milk and butter through being eaten by 
milch cows. 

Stem one to three feet high, rather stout, 
smooth, erect, and branching. Leaves 
broadly oval or heart-shaped, sometimes 
nearly round, coarsely toothed, smooth or 
wdth a slight hairiness on midvein and 
margins, the lower ones six or more inches 
broad with long petioles, the upper ones 
smaller and short-stalked. Flowers in short 
racemose clusters, white, nearly a half-inch 
broad. Siliques one to two inches long, 
stiff and four-angled, slender, with valves 
keeled and three-nerved. Seeds brown, 
oblong, and ridged, one row in each cell. 
(Fig. 134.) 

Means of control 

Deep cutting of autumn leaf-tufts from 
the roots with hoe or spud; cutting or ulltavdUlliZia^offi^l 
hand-pulling the fruiting stalks before the 7ialis). x i- 
first flowers mature. 




HEDGE MUSTARD 

Sisymbrium officinale, Scop. 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom. : May to November. 

Seed-time: July to December. 

Range: Throughout North America except the extreme North. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 



192 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



Common everywhere ; a frequent tenant of vacant city lots ; it is 
detested by the truck gardener because it harbors the club-root 
fungus so injurious to cabbage and turnips, and may have fouled 
the soil with the disease where those plants have never been cul- 
tivated. 

Stems six inches to three feet tall, erect, slender, with branches 
spread rigidly at wide angles. Leaves deeply cut and lobed, with 

the lower segments usually turned 
backward. Flowers yellow, about an 
eighth of an inch broad, in small, 
flat clusters at summit of stem and 
branches, above lengthening rows of 
pods. These are small, round, 
slightly hairy, pointed, about a half- 
inch long, held erect and closely 
pressed to the stalk. When old both 
stems and pods often turn to a dirty 
purple, making the plant look still 
more weedy and unpleasant. (Fig. 
135.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production. Destroy 
autumn plants by hoe-cutting before 
fruiting stalks appear. Hand-pulling 
while in first bloom is a paying oper- 
ation, as the plant is a gross feeder 
Fig. 135. — Hedge Mustard during the long season of seed de- 
(Sisymbrium officinale). X ?. velopment. 




TUMBLING MUSTARD 

Sisymbrium altissimum, L. 

Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Ti?7ie of bloom: June to July. 

Seed-time: First seed ripe in July. Plants dry and ready for 

tumbling? in September. 
Range : All states of the Middle West as far south as Missouri and 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



193 



Kansas, northwestward to Washington ; all the Canadian prov- 
inces from Quebec to Vancouver Island. 
Habitat: Grain fields and grasslands, waste places. 



A native of Central Europe brought to this country in impure 
commercial seeds ; by this agency it still travels, and no doubt jour- 
neys farther in this way than when wind-driven about the country. 

Stem two to four feet high, slender, smooth, and exceedingly 
branched and bushy. Leaves 
deeply pinnatifid, the segments 
nearly linear, toothed or entire, 
the upper ones reduced to 
thread-like thinness ; when the 
plant is young the lower leaves 
are downy and the basal ones lie 
on the ground in rosette form, 
but these wither away and the 
later leaves are smootli. Flowers 
pale yellow, about a third of an 
inch across, on elongating ra- 
cemes that leave behind alter- 
nating rows of stiff, diverging, 
needle-like pods, two to four 
inches long but hardly thicker 
than their short pedicels. Each 
pod usually contains more than 
a hundred seeds — the fecundity 
of the weed is almost incredible. 
When mature the stems become 
very brittle, breaking away at 
the surface of the ground, and the plants are afterward the sport 
of the winds ; on the prairies they often roll for miles, but in 
fenced and uneven ground they are battered to and fro, seeding 
the soil the more thickly for such restriction. (Fig. 136.) 




Fig. 



136. — Tumbling Mustard (Sisym- 
brium altissimum). X \- 



Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Harrow seedlings out of grain fields in the spring. 
Harvest infested meadows before the first seeds ripen. Burn over 



194 



CRUCIFERAE (MUSTARD FAMILY) 



stubbles for the purpose of killing the seeds on the ground. The 
plant gives no trouble in cultivated ground, for there the stroke of a 
hoe destroys it when young. The smooth foliage is unharmed by 
sprays. 

GREEN TANSY MUSTARD 

Sisymbrium incisum, Engelm. 
Var. filipes, Gray 

Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: Late June to July. 

Seed-time: July to August. 

Range: Ontario and Manitoba, Minnesota and the Dakotas. 

Habitat: Grain fields and waste places. 



Root-leaves tufted, forming a graceful rosette, deeply pinnatifid, 
the segments again cut and toothed, peti- 
oled, deep green, slightly glandular, hairy. 
Stem leaves also all pinnatifid, but smaller, 
more finely divided, and with short peti- 
oles. Stem two to four feet tall, erect, 
branching, and finely hairy. Flowers bright 
yellow, about an eighth of an inch broad, in 
elongated racemes ; pods smooth, narrow, 
slightly curved, a little more than a half- 
inch long, on slender, spreading pedicels. 
Seeds very small, reddish brown, minutely 
roughened, very mucilaginous when wet, 
which is an aid to their distribution. 
(Fig. 137.) 

Another nearly related plant with nearly 
the same range is the Gray Tansy Mustard 
{S. incisum, var. Hartwegianwn, Watson), 
differing in that its much divided foliage is 
densely covered with soft, gray, appressed 
hairs. The Gray Tansy Mustard is later in 
flowering and in seed development, the 
pods being but a quarter-inch long, held 
nearly erect on short, ascending pedicels, 
making the racemes very slender. 




Fig. 137. — Green 
Tansy Mustard (Sisym- 
brium incisum, var. fili- 
pes). X X. 



CRUCIFERAE (MUSTARD FAMILY) 



195 



Means of control 

Harrow autumn rosettes from the crop in the spring, when the 
grain is but a few inches tall. Spray the young flowering stalks 
with Iron sulfate or Copper sulfate at the appearance of the first 
yellow blossoms. Destroy waste-land plants by deep cutting or 
hand-pulling. 

WORMSEED OR TREACLE MUSTARD 
Erysimum cheiranthoides, L. 

Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Prop- 
agates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August, 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Newfoundland to Alaska, southward 
to North Carolina and Tennessee. 

Habitat: In fields and along streams. 

The foliage and, particularly, the seeds of 
this weed are very bitter, and when milch 
cattle eat it the dairy products are much 
damaged ; also its juices are said to be so 
irritating to mucous surfaces as to bring about 
serious bowel disorders in stock. Its Greek 
name means "to draw blisters." 

Stem eight inches to two feet tall, slen- 
der, and branching. Leaves lance-shaped to 
linear, entire or sparingly toothed, the lower 
ones tapering to a short petiole, the upper 
ones sessile ; the whole plant minutely rough- 
ened with fine, forking hairs. Flowers about 
a quarter-inch broad, bright yellow ; racemes 
slender, the siliques four-sided, narrow, smooth, 
a half-inch to an inch long, held erect on 
divergent pedicels, making a noticeable elbow 
between the pod and its stem. Seeds small, 
reddish yellow, varying in shape from being 
crowded in the pods but approaching a flat- 
tened oval ; too often an impurity among 
clover seeds. (Fig. 138.) 

Means of control the same as for Field Peppergrass 




Fig. 138. — Worm- 
seed Mustard {Erysi- 
mum cheiranthoides) . 



196 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 



WINTER CRESS 
Barbarea vulgaris, R. Br. 

Other English names: Herb Barbara, St. Barbara's Cress, Yellow 

Rocket, Rocket Cress. 
Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : April to June. 
Seed-lime: June to August. 
Range: Labrador to the Pacific Coast, southward to Virginia and 

the Middle West. Also native to Europe. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 

This plant is easily distinguished from other Mustards by the 
large tufts of lyrate root-leaves, dark green, thick, smooth, shining, 
with heart-shaped terminal lobes and one to four lateral pairs along 

the midribs ; these glossy green 
rosettes are very conspicuous 
when first appearing from be- 
neath the winter snow; at that 
season they make excellent 
greens, and in Europe they are 
cultivated for use as a potherb. 
Even on St. Barbara's Day, 
which is the fourth of Decem- 
ber, one may dig away the snow 
and find the plants green and 
succulent. Flowering stalks one 
to two feet tall, with leaves sessile 
and sometimes clasping. Flowers 
in open clusters, bright yellow, 
nearly an inch broad, sweet- 
scented. Siliques about an inch 
long, obscurely four-sided with 
valves keeled, the pedicels spread- 
ing but the pods nearly erect. 
Seeds brown, sometimes grayish 
with a coat of mucilage, flat, 
finely pitted ; they are a com- 
FiG. 139. — Winter Cress (Barbarea ^on impurity of grass and clover 




vulgaris) . 



seeds. (Fig. 139.) 



CRUCIFERAE {MUSTARD FAMILY) 197 

Sheep are fond of Winter Cress and cattle feed on it with as 
greedy an appetite as on rape or turnips or other cultivated cruci- 
fers ; for this reason its planting as forage has been advocated, but 
its weedy habit of never "staying put" should be considered. 

Means of control 

Spudding or hoe-cutting the rosettes from the roots in the first 
year of growth, and closely cutting the flowering stalks while they 
are in first bloom. 

SCURVY GRASS 

Barbarea verna, Aseh. 
{Barharea prcbcox, Sm.) 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: April to June. 

Seed-time: June to August. 

Range: Massachusetts to Virginia, and westward to Missouri. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, and waste places. 

Often cultivated for winter salads, frequently escaping and now 
thoroughly naturalized as a weed. A more slender plant than the 
preceding species, its root-leaves more finely divided, having five 
to eight pairs of lateral segments. Flowers smaller and a paler 
yellow. Pods much longer, sharply four-sided, slightly compressed 
on short and very thick pedicels. Seeds smaller, more numerous, 
brown and flattened. 

Means of control the same as for Winter Cress. The smooth, 
glossy surface of these two Mustards renders them impervious to 
injury from sprays. 

BULBOUS CRESS 

Carddmine bulbbsa, B.S.P. 

Other English names : Bitter Cress, Spring Cress. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by tuber-bearing 

rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : April to June. 
Seed-time: May to July. 
Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Florida and 

Texas. 
Habitat: Wet meadows, swamps, sides of streams, and ditches. 



198 



CAPP ARID ACE AE {CAPER FAMILY) 



Although it produces seed in plenty, the worst part of this weed 
is underground ; it springs from a small tuber about the size of a 
kernel of corn, attached to a slender rootstock on which there are 
other tubers, all of which will send up new plants during the present 
or the coming spring. Cows sometimes eat of the plant when first 
turned out to graze in spring, seeming to relish 
its pungent, bitter taste, the taint of which 
is communicated to the milk. (P^ig. 140.) 

Stem very slender, smooth, six inches to a 
foot in height. Base leaves about an inch 
broad, nearly circular or sometimes heart- 
shaped, smooth, entire, with long, slender 
petioles ; those on the stem broadly lance- 
shaped, sessile, often entire, others slightly 
toothed. Flowers in rather large, loose clus- 
ters at the top of the stalk, white, and about 
a half-inch broad. Siliques about an inch 
long, flattened, very slim, tapering at each 
end, nearly erect. 

Means of control 

Cleanse infested grass lands with better 
drainage, for if they lack moisture the tubers 
will die. Plants of brooksides and ditches 

_, ,,^ ^ „ should be cut with hoe or scythe in the 
Fig. 140. — Bulbous . .„ , ... , '^ ... 

Cress {Cardamine bul- sprmg, it they are hkely to come within 

bosa). X |. reach of grazing milch cattle. 




CLAM MY WEED 

Polariisia graveolans, Raf. 

Other English names: Clammy Clover, Stinking Clover. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Ti'tne of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time : Late July to October. 

Range: Quebec to the Northwest Territory, southward to Mary- 
land, Tennessee, and Colorado. 

Habitat : Sandy or gravelly soil ; shores of streams and lakes, road 
embankments, moist, sandy fields. 



C APP ARID ACE AE {CAPER FAMILY) 



199 



An unpleasant weed, with fetid odor and 
acrid juices, the whole plant glandular and 
clammy-hairy, even to its pods. Stem six 
inches to two feet tall, with slender as- 
cending branches. Leaves alternate, dark 
green, with three oblong leaflets, tapering 
to each end, on slender petioles about as 
long as the central blade. Flowers in the 
upper axils, forming long, leafy, terminal 
racemes ; corolla of four yellowish white or 
pinkish petals, notched at the outer edge, 
with a tassel of many unequal pinkish 
purple stamens in the center : four purplish 
pointed sepals, soon falling away. Capsule 
one to nearly two inches long, erect on 
spreading pedicels, one-celled, thin, rough, 
net-veined, crammed with rough, brown 
seeds. (Fig. 141.) 




Means of control 

Close cutting or pulling before the formation of seed. 



Fig. 141. — Clammy- 
weed (Polanisia graveo- 
lans). X i- 



PINK CLEOME 

Cleome serruldta, Pursh. 

Other English names: Rocky Mountain Bee-plant, Stinking Clover, 

Stinkweed. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: Late August to November. 
Range: Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri, westward to the Rocky 

Mountains, New Mexico, and Arizona ; also in Manitoba and 

the Northwest Territory. 
Habitat: Dry upland prairies and hillsides, waste places. 



The foliage of this plant has a very unpleasant odor, which causes 
it to be rejected by grazing cattle; but the blossoms yield much 
nectar, which the bees turn into clear honey of fine flavor ; there- 
fore bee keepers are its friends, for it blooms at a time when bee- 
pasture is not so very plentiful. 



200 



CRASSULACEAE (ORPINE FAMILY) 




Fig. 142. — Pink 
Cleome (Cleome serru- 
lata). X h 



Stems two to three feet tall, erect, 
smooth, with a few branches near the top. 
Leaves alternate, three-parted, or the up- 
permost simple, the leaflets oblong, veiny, 
and pointed at each end ; leaves near the 
base have slender petioles, but the upper 
ones are sessile or very short-petioled. 
Flowers in terminal racemes, rose-colored, 
sometimes nearly white, very showy, the 
four petals being about a half-inch in length 
and half as broad ; sepals four, often per- 
sistent ; ovary stalked, with a gland at its 
base ; stamens usually six, occasionally four, 
inserted above the petals on the stipe of 
the ovary ; pedicels subtended by small, 
lance-shaped bracts. Pods one-celled, very 
slender, one to two inches long, pointed at 
each end, crowded with seeds. (Fig. 142.) 

Means of control 

Cut or pull before the earliest flowers 
have matured any pods. 



MOSSY STONECROP 

* Sedum acre, L. 

Other Eriglish names: Wall Pepper, Biting Orpine, Golden Moss, 

Creeping Jack, Pricket. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rooting at 

the joints. 
Ti7ne of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range: New Brunswick to Ontario, southward to Virginia and 

Ohio. 
Habitat : Fields and roadsides ; cemeteries. 



At least one case of severe poisoning has been reported from the 
eating of this peppery little plant. Stems tufted, spreading on the 
ground, rather thick and succulent, rooting at the joints, only the 
flowering branches erect, one to three inches high. Leaves yellow- 



CRASSULACEAE (ORPINE FAMILY) 201 

ish green, smooth, fleshy, alternate, sessile, hardly a quarter-inch 
long, crowded and overlapping on the stalks. Flowers in small 
terminal cymes, bright golden yellow, each about a half -inch broad ; 
calyx four- or five-lobed ; petals four or five, distinct ; stamens 
eight or ten. Follicles four or five, spreading, tipped with the 
persistent styles. Seeds reddish yellow, very small. 
Means of control the same as for Seduvi stoloniferum. 

LIVE-FOREVER 

Sedum stolonijerum, Gmel. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by stolons. 

Time of bloom: June to July. 

Seed-time: August to September. 

Range: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine. 

Habitat: Fields and roadsides. 

An escape from the flower garden, very hard 
to suppress when established as a weed. Stems 
rather thick, spreading on all sides, taking root 
at the joints and sending up numerous flowering 
stalks, three to eight inches tall. Leaves opposite, 
obovate, small, thick, sessile, wedge-shaped at the 
base, the rounded tip finely scallop-toothed. 
Flowers in flat, crowded cymes, the blossoms pink, 
about a half-inch broad, the central and first- 
opened flowers usually having five pointed petals, 
most of the others but four. Seeds very small, 
in four or five pointed spreading follicles which 
are united at the base; not often produced, the 
plant spreading chiefly by its stoloniferous stems. 
(Fig. 143.) 

Means of control 

Careful hoe-cutting, skinning the patches from 

the ground and removing to the compost heap or 

the bonfire; for any bit of stem in contact with ^ 7^^\ 14 3.— 
., .„ . . . . '11 1 1 Live-forever 

moist soil, it it contains a joint, wiU take root and (Sedum stoloni- 
continue to grow. ferum). x i 




202 



CRASSULACEAE {ORPINE FAMILY) 



COMMON OPINE OR LIVE-FOREVER 

Sedum purpureum, Tausch. 
{Sedimi Telephiurn, L.) 

Other English names: Live-long, Aaron's Rod, Purse Plant, Pud- 
ding-bags. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds, by tubers, and by 
rooting at the joints. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Quebec to Ontario and Michigan, southward to Maryland. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, waste places. 

An escape from gardens, and a most pernicious weed when out of 
bounds. The tuberous, fleshy, white roots are attached to the 
, , stems b}^ small necks, and if even a very little 

one is broken off it sprouts a stalk and con- 
tinues to thrive; broken stalks become slips, 
which put forth roots and form new plants. 

Stem six inches to tw^o feet in height, round, 
stout, smooth, erect, very leafy, often purplish. 
Leaves alternate, long obovate or the upper 
ones oval, thick, light green, bluntly toothed, 
sessile or the lowermost with petioles. By 
careful lateral pressure with the finger-tips 
the two surfaces of a leaf may be separated, 
making a " purse," or " pudding-bag." Flowers 
purple, in a dense, compound cyme at the 
summit of the stalk ; each blossom about a 
half-inch broad, with five petals, rather thick, 
ovate, acute, twice as long as the sepals ; sta- 
mens ten ; carpels five, tipped with a per- 
"^ sistent style, very short. Seeds small, seldom 
produced, the plant spreading almost entirely 
by its tuberous rootstocks. (Fig. 144.) 




Fig. 144. — Com- 
mon Orpine or Live- 
forever (Sedum pur- 
pureum). X |. 



Means of control 

Deep cutting in midsummer, salt or carbolic 

acid being applied to the shorn surfaces. Sheep 
will graze the plants down, particularly if strewn with a little 
salt. There is a fungous disease that attacks and kills the 



ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY) 203 

weed, and diseased plants may be used for the purpose of in- 
fection and destruction. The writer once killed a small patch 
in a cemetery with kerosene oil, but the ground was made sterile 
and resodding was necessary. Caustic soda would be equally 
effective and leach away more quickly. 

MEADOW-SWEET 

Spircea latifolia, Borkh. 

Other English names : Quaker Lady, Meadow Queen. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Eastern North America from Newfoundland to Virginia. 

Habitat: Rocky pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 

A handsome shrub which seems to have a preference for hillside 
pastures, where it spreads its kind undisturbed by grazing animals, 
as they dislike its astringent, bitter taste. 

Stems two to four feet tall, with smooth, reddish 
or purplish brown bark, simple or branching near 
the top. Leaves alternate, thin, smooth, dark 
green, nearly an inch broad and three times as 
long, rather coarsely toothed, obtuse, and nar- 
rowing somewhat abruptly to a short petiole. 
Flowers in dense terminal panicles, very small, 
white or pale pink, with little or no fragrance in 
spite of the name ; calyx short, five-cleft, per- 
sistent, nearly smooth ; the five petals obovate 
and equal ; stamens many ; pistils usually five, 
superior, alternate with the calyx lobes. The blos- 
soms open from the summit downward, and as the 
season advances the plume-like clusters begin to 
turn brown at the top. Seeds minute, in five small, 
smooth, brown, style-tipped follicles. (Fig. 145.) 

Means of control Fig. 145. — 

]VlG3,do W- SWGGt 

Yearling shoots are easily and quickly hand- (Spircea latifolia). 
pulled when the ground is soft, but if left to sink xi- 




204 



ROSACE AE {ROSE FAMILY) 



their woody roots into the soil they require to be grubbed out. 
Seeding may be prevented and root-growth checked by close 
cutting in the hot ^* wood-sere" days of July and early August. 




WILLOW-LEAVED MEADOW-SWEET 

Spircea salicifolia, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Ti?ne of bloom: June to August. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Newfoundland to the Rocky Moun- 
tains, southward to Georgia and Missouri. 
Habitat: Moist meadows and swamps. 



Stems erect, slender, two to five feet tall, 
with smooth, yellowish brown bark ; these 
stems are very tough and troublesome to 
mowing knives and scythes. Leaves firm, 
light green, smooth, or nearly so, lance-shaped, 
usually obtuse at apex, finely toothed, tapering 
at base to a short petiole. Flowers in large 
terminal panicles somewhat more narrow and 
pyramidal than in the preceding species, the 
five white petals of the small blossoms nearly 
round ; pedicels and calyx finely downy. 
The five tiny follicles smooth, two- to four- 
seeded. (Fig. 146.) 

Means of control the same as for S. latifolia. 



HARDHACK 



Fig. 146. — Willow- 
leaved Meadow-sweet 
(Spircea salicifolia). 

xi 



Spircea tom,entbsa 

Steeple-bush, Woolly 
Propagates by seeds. 



Other English names. 

Meadow-sweet. 
Native. Perennial. 
Time of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Nova Scotia to Manitoba, southward to Georgia and 

Kansas. 
Habitat: Moist meadows and swamps. 



ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY) 



205 



Stems erect, two to four feet tall, woody, so hard 
and brittle as to nick scythe blades and break mowing 
knives, the bark red and clothed in rusty wool 
which readily rubs off. Leaves long ovate, unequally 
toothed, obtuse at apex, the base rounded or 
abruptly narrowed to a short petiole, smooth and 
green above but covered underneath with tawny or 
whitish wool. Flowers in dense terminal racemes, 
spire-like, deep rose-pink, sometimes a reddish purple, 
occasionally w^hite. The roundish, pointed follicles 
are also woolly, filled with minute, brown seeds. 
(Fig. 147.) 

Means of control the same as for Meadow-sweet. 



ROUGH CINQUEFOIL 
Potentilla monspeliensis, L. 



Other English 
Cinquefoil. 




Fig. 148. — Rough 
Cinquefoil {Potentilla mon- 
speliensis). X h 



names: Tall Five-finger, Norway 



Native. Annual or biennial. 

Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : June to Fig. 147. — 

September. Hardhack 

Seed-ti7ne : July to October. (Spirma to- 
Range: Labrador to Alaska, mentosa).x\. 

southward to Georgia, 

Texas, and Mexico. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; fields, meadows, and 

waste places. 

Stem one to three feet tall, stout, erect, 
rough-hairy, branching near the top, be- 
coming tough and woody with age and 
changing from green to a dingy reddish 
purple. Leaves alternate, palmately tri- 
foliate, the leaflets obovate, double- 
toothed, tapering to the base, hairy on 
both sides, the lower leaves petioled, the 
upper ones sessile or nearly so ; stipules 
leaf-like, lance-shaped, toothed or entire. 
Flowers in terminal cymose clusters, 



20() 



ROSACEAE {ROSE FAMILY) 



rather small, the fiie rounded, pale yellow petals being less 
than half as long as the hairy, pointed, persistent calyx-lobes which 
are subtended by bracts still longer ; stamens man}'. After the 
flower has been fertilized the long calyx-lobes close protectingly 
over the cone-like heads until the many small achenes have 
ripened and are ready to be scattered by the swaying of the tall 
weed in the wind. (Fig. 148.) 

Means of control 

Close cutting while in first bloom ; cultivation of the ground for 
one or two seasons. 

SILVERY CINQUEFOIL 

Potentilla argentea, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to September. 

Seed-time: Late June to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to the Dakotas, southward to Maryland and 

Kansas. Native also to Europe and Asia. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; fields, meadows, and pastures. 



The plant from which this description 
is written was pulled from a sidehill grass 
lot, on which the grass was burned brown 
and apparently dead from the drought — 
but the weed did not appear to be suffer- 
ing. Root deep, hard, and woody, with 
branching, fibrous rootlets. Stems tufted, 
spreading, three inches to a foot in length, 
also coarse and woody, covered w^ith woolly 
white hair. Leaves palmately five-foliate, 
usually less than an inch broad, smooth 
and green above but silver-white beneath 
with woolly hair; leaflets wedge-shaped, 
deeply cut, entire toward the base, with 
margins revolute. Flowers in cymose clus- 
ters, terminal on short pedicels, about a 
quarter-inch broad, the calyx white-woolly, 
the five rounded petals greenish yellow, 




Fig. 149. — Silvery 
Cinquefoil (Potentilla 
argentea). X h 



BOS ACE AE {ROSE FAMILY) 



207 



slightly notched at the edge. Achenes smooth, very small, 
ripening and falling all smnmer. (Fig. 149.) 

Means of control 

Enrich the soil, furnishing humus which will enable it to retain 
moisture and support the growth of better plants. 



SHRUBBY CINQUEFOIL 

Potentilla fruticosa, L. 

Other English names: Yellow Hardback, Prairie Weed, Black 

Brush, Chester Flower. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to October. 
Seed-time: Seeds remain on the plant until winter, being usually 

scattered between December and March. 
Range: Labrador to Alaska, southward to New Jersey, Illinois, 

and Minnesota. In the Rocky Mountains to Arizona and in the 

Sierra Nevadas to California. 
Habitat : Dry open ground ; meadows and pastures. 



A plant which has shown its weed}^ qualities 
chiefly in New England and in parts of 
Colorado, Indiana, and Ohio. It is a shrub, 
one to five feet tall, branching from the base, 
making a spreading, compact growth which 
chokes out all else. Young shoots are clothed 
in white down, but when mature the stems be- 
come hard, woody, and covered with hairy, 
ragged, grayish brown bark. These old " Hard- 
hack" stems are incredibly tough and turn the 
edge of the sharpest scythes. Leaves pinnately 
five- to seven-foliate, the leaflets pointed at both 
ends, a half-inch to an inch long, entire, with 
margins slightly revolute, gray-green with silky 
hairs. Flowers in terminal cymose clusters, 
numerous, bright yellow, about an inch broad, 
the five petals nearly round and exceeding 
the ovate calyx-lobes and the pointed bracts. 
Achenes twenty or more to a flower, small, 




Fig. 150. — Shrub- 
by Cinquefoil {Po- 
tentilla fruticosa) . 
Xi 



208 ROSACEAE {ROSE FAMILY) 

light, hairy-coated, blown far and wide over crusted winter snow. 

(Fig. 150.) 

Means of control 

One way is to cut or burn off the tops before the leaves start in 
the spring, and then, with a strong team and a heavy plow, turn out 
the roots, drag them from the soil with a harrow, pile, dry for a 
few days, and burn. Some of the largest roots will prove too much 
for the plow and the harrow ; such roots must be pulled by a horse 
with a chain, aided by a man with a crowbar. Or young and com- 
paratively shallow roots may be knocked out of the ground with a 
pickax while the soil is still frozen. Farmers who have thus re- 
claimed Cinquefoil fields say that the land is left in excellent condi- 
tion for crops, being apparently improved rather than exhausted 
by its weedy occupant. Some of these shrubby lots may not be 
worth so much expense and labor and should be given back to forest 
growth, which soon drives out the weed and would, in the end, 
prove a very profitable investment. 

The keeping of Angora goats has been successfully tried, those 
animals browsing back the twigs and entirely preventing seed 
development ; but there is probably more than enough Black 
Brush, as the shrub is called in Colorado, to supply all the goats in 
the country. On the whole, the best means of keeping out this very 
aggressive weed is not to let it get in ; that is, whenever the white, 
woolly, young shoots appear, hand-pull them promptly, letting 
none mature to reproduce themselves by thousands and possess the 
land. 

SILVERWEED 

Potentilla Anserina, L. 

Other English names: Goose Grass, Goose Tansy. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by many-jointed 

runners which take root at the nodes. 
Time of bloom : May to September. 
Seed-time: July to November. 

Range : Throughout North America ; also in Europe and Asia. 
Habitat: Wet grasslands, banks of streams, lake and sea shores. 

All that this plant seems to require is that the ground shall be 
damp, and, whether the land be the tropic shores of the Gulf of 
Mexico or an Alaskan or Greenland marsh, it is satisfied. 



ROSACE AE (ROSE FAMILY) 



209 



The weed springs from a slender taproot, fringed with many 
thready rootlets. Leaves thickly tufted, spreading, six to eighteen 
inches long, pinnately compound with seven to twenty-five oblong, 
tooth-edged leaflets, the larger ones at the tip, decreasing in size 
inward to the long, grooved petiole, dark green and smooth above 
but underneath w^hite with fine, silken hairs. Thrust out from 
among the tufted leaves are a number of jointed runners, one to 
three feet long, the young plants sitting on the nodes until the 
parent has pushed them out a convenient distance for striking root 
and starting an independent growth. Flowers solitary, lifted on 
slender, erect, axillary peduncles, bright yellow, nearly an inch 
broad ; cal^^x-lobes acute, silky-hairy ; these fold over the seed- 
heads until the smooth, small achenes have ripened, when they 
reopen and the nodding stems scatter them abroad. 



Means of control 

Good drainage is all that is necessary in 
order to drive out the Silverweed, but in 
places where that is impracticable the plants 
should be closely cut in June, before the 
first seeds fall or any runners have taken root. 



COMMON CINQUEFOIL OR FIVE-FINGER 

Potentllla canadensis, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and 
by stolons. 

Time of hloom : April to August. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range : Maine and Quebec to Minnesota, south- 
ward to Georgia and Oklahoma. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; fields, meadows, pastures, 
and waste places. 

Stems tufted, spreading, stoloniferous, six 

inches to two feet long, very slender, the 

runners thin as wire, often reddish, finely ^%. ; ~ °^" 

' p • 1 1^0^^ -T ive-iinger {fo- 

hairy. Leaves palmately five-foliate, the teritilla canadensis). 

leaflets oblong obovate, green and smooth x i- 




210 



BOS ACE AE (ROSE FAMILY) 



above, sparsely hairy beneath, with slender petioles. Flowers 
solitary in the axils, on long slender, wiry peduncles, golden 
yellow, about a half-inch broad, the five petals broadly obovate, 
longer than the pointed calyx-lobes and the narrow bractlets. 
Achenes small, smooth, scattered by the nodding of the wiry 
flower-stalks. (Fig. 151.) 



Means of control 

Cultivation, liming and manuring the soil, will so stimulate the 
growth of better plants that the weed will soon be superseded. 
Clover is the best crop to grow for this purpose. 



WHITE AVENS 

Geum canadense, Jacq. 
{Geum album, Gmel.) 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south- 
ward to Georgia and Missouri. 

Habitat : Fence-rows, woodland borders, 
thickets along streams. 



A frequent weed in brushy pastures 
where sheep are likely to be foraging 
and to get their fleeces beset with its 
bristly, hooked achenes. Stems one to 
two feet in height, slender, erect, finely 
hairy or sometimes smooth, branched 
near the top. Lower and basal leaves 
long-petioled, pinately three- to five- 
parted, the terminal lobe large and 
broadly ovate, the lateral lobes small 
and narrow, all sharply toothed ; stem 
leaves with fewer segments and short 
petioles, the topmost becoming lance- 
shaped and sessile. Flowers white or 
pale greenish yellow, about a half-inch 




Fig. 152. — White Avens 
{Geum canadense) . X i- 



ROSACEAE {ROSE FAMILY) 



211 



broad, with five short, rounded petals and pointed, reflexed calyx- 
lobes ; stamens many, inserted on a disk at the base of the calyx. 
Head of fruit nearly globular, the many persistent, jointed st^des 
forming hooks by which theachenes attach themselves to clothing or 
to the coats of animals for transportation to new homes. (Fig. 152.) 

Means of control 

Close cutting before the development of seeds. 



DEWBERRY 

Ruhus villosus, Ait. 
{Rubus procumbens, Muhl.) 

Other English names: Running Blackberry, Trailing Bramble. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Ti7ne of bloom: Late April to June. 

Seed-time: Fruit ripe in June in southern part of its range, in July 
farther north. 

Range : Newfoundland and Ontario to 
Lake Superior, southward to Vir- 
ginia and Missouri. 

Habitat : Upland fields, meadows, and 
pastures, fence rows, and waste 
places. 




A variety of this plant, much im- 
proved by selection and cultivation, 
comes to our tables as the delicious 
^'Lucretia Dewberry"; but the wild 
bramble, sprawling itself over acres of 
open uplands, is a pestiferous weed. 
Birds are very fond of the fruits and 
eat them to repletion, voiding the seeds 
unharmed, so that prickly young Dew- 
berry shoots get mown with the ha,y 
of the meadows and keep turning up in 
the most unexpected places. 

Stems prostrate, shrubb}^ very 
prickly, six to ten or more feet in 
length, ^\^th many small erect fruiting 



-^1 




Fig. 153. — Wild Dewberry 
{Rubus villosus) . X^. 



212 ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY) 

branches, six inches to a foot high, all armed with sharp prickles. 
Leaves pinnately compound, with three to seven long-ovate or 
rhombic leaflets, on very slender and often prickly petioles, rather 
thin, prominently veined, finely double-toothed, dark green, 
taking on a gorgeous red coloring in autumn. Flowers in terminal 
clusters, or occasionally solitary, about an inch broad, with five- 
parted calyx and five obovate, white petals; stamens many; 
pistils many, closely set on a succulent *'core" or torus which 
elongates as they mature, each becoming a small pulpy drupelet, 
containing one achene. These drupelets cohere and form the 
fruit, black, sweet, juicy, often an inch long, dropping readily 
from the stems when ripe. (Fig. 153.) 

Means of control 

The vines should be cut close to the ground, or, better, spudded 
off below the surface, before the fruit is formed, and then piled and 
burned. A handful of salt or a little kerosene on the cut surfaces is 
discouraging to new growth. 

TALL HAIRY AGRIMONY 

Agrimbnia gryposepala, Wallr. 
{Agrhnbnia hirsiita, Bicknell) 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Nova Scotia and Maine to Minnesota, southward to North 

Carolina. Also on the Pacific Coast. 
Habitat: Woodland borders, thickets along streams. 

One of the many "stickseed" plants that vex the wool-grower, 
and rather common in the rocky brush-lot pastures usually given 
over to sheep. Stem two to four feet tall, slender, and covered 
with fine, spreading hairs. Roots fibrous and clustered. Leaves 
deep green, pinnatifid, mostly with seven — sometimes five or nine 
— large, coarsely toothed, oblong to obovate leaflets, and three 
pairs of smaller ones interposed between them ; petioles hairy, 
with large, coarsely toothed stipules at the base. Flowers in long, 
slender, spicate racemes, the rachis glandular-hairy, interspersed 



ROSACEAE {ROSE FAMILY) 



213 



with longer spreading hairs ; blossoms 
less than a half-inch broad, with five 
small, rounded, yellow petals, many 
stamens, one pistil with two-parted 
style, and a hairy, five-lobed calyx, 
closed after flowering and surrounded 
with a ring of hooked bristles ; these 
lengthen as the two achenes within 
mature, forming a small, top-shaped 
bur with its outer row of hooks de- 
flexed, the inner ones spreading and 
erect, so that no sheep or woollen gar- 
ment can touch a spike without attach- 
ing most of its fruits. (Fig. 154.) 

Means of control 

If flocks are to be kept in their 
neighborhood the plants should be 
searched out and closely cut while in ^^^ i54._Tall Hairy Agri- 

nrst bloom. Or, when the ground is mony {Agrimonia gryposepala) . 

soft, they may be hand-pulled. x 1- 




SOFT AGRIMONY 

Agrimbnia mollis, Britton 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by tubers. 

Time of bloom : July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range : Connecticut to Michigan, southward to North Carolina and 

Kansas. 
Habitat: Hillsides, dry woodland borders, and thickets. 

Roots tuberous, rather thick and elongated. Stems very slender, 
two to five feet tall, with slim ascending branches, covered with fine, 
very soft hair. Leaflets five to nine (mostly seven), with two or 
three intermediate smaller pairs, oblong to elliptic or obovate, 
obtuse, rather thick, scallop-toothed, grayish green and very softly 
hairy on both sides ; stipules oblong to lance-shaped, and entire, or 
sometimes broad and sharply toothed. Racemes long and wand- 
like, interrupted, the flowers nearly a half -inch broad, bright yellow. 



214 ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY) 

The top-shaped burs about a quarter-inch long, the ring of hooked 
bristles ascending nearly in a single row. 

Means of control 

If deprived of leaf growth by frequent cutting throughout the 
growing season, the tubers shrivel and die ; in any case no fruits 
should be allowed to mature in the neighborhood of grazing flocks. 

SMALL-FLOWERED AGRIMONY 

Agrimonia parviflora, Ait. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : July to October. 

Seed-time : August to November. 

Range: Connecticut to Ontario, Michigan, and Kansas, southward 

to Georgia and Louisiana. 
Habitat : Sandy alluvial soil ; damp meadows, thickets along streams. 

Stem two to six feet in height with slender branches near the 
top, densely set with bristly, brownish hairs, very leafy, growing 
from fibrous clustered roots. Leaflets nine to nineteen, elliptic to 
narrow lance-shaped, pointed at both ends, sharply toothed, thin, 
finely hairy, with many interposed pairs of small leaflets of varying 
sizes ; stipules usually broader than their length, clasping, sharply 
toothed. Racemes many-flowered, one to two feet long, the blos- 
soms hardly more than a quarter-inch broad, the petals light yellow. 
Burs small, dilated top-shaped, deflexed on their pedicels, the rows 
of hooked bristles erect, spreading, and reflexed. 

Means of control 

If areas are not too large to make the task impracticable, hand- 
pulling the plants before seed development is well worth while. 
Repeated and close cutting throughout the growing season, depriv- 
ing the roots of all leaf-growth, will finally suppress the weed. 

SWEET BRIER 

Rosa ruhiginosa, L. 
{Rosa eglanteria, Mill.) 

Other English names: Eglantine, Sweetleaf Rose. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 



ROSACEAE (ROSE FAMILY) 



Time of bloom: June to July. 

Seed-time : Hips ripe in September but remain on the bushes until 
winter. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Ontario and Michigan, southward to Vir- 
ginia and Tennessee. 

Habitat : Rocky pastures, along roadsides, and in fields. 

Every pure pink blossom and fragrant leaf of this plant seem a 
protest against its being called a weed. It came to us from Europe, 
and the pages of Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, are full of its 
sweetness. But, 

''With brambles and bushes in pasture too full, 
Poore sheepe be in danger and loseth their wull," 

and cattle will not touch it nor even graze very near it, fearing the 
hooked prickers and apparently not liking its fragrance. (Fig. 
155.) 

Canes slender, four to eight feet high, brown when old, armed 
with strong, flattened, hooked, brown 
prickles ; between them the stem may be 
smooth, or, when young, may be set with 
fine bristly hairs. Leaves alternate, pin- 
nately compound, w^ith five to seven 
roundish oval leaflets, rather thick, finely 
double-toothed, dark green and smooth 
above, but covered underneath with fine, 
soft hair and resinous, rust-colored glands 
that show ver}^ plainly under a lens ; the 
broad stipules are also glandular. Flowers 
pink, not fragrant, usually about two 
inches broad, the five petals notched into 
a heart-shape at the outer edge, with a 
tuft of many j^ellow stamens in the 
center; calyx-lobes spreading and much 
divided, glandular-hairy, as are also the 
pedicels. Within the calyx-tube is a 
hollow disk on which the many pistils 
are set ; ovaries hairy, becoming bony 
achenes. Hips about a half-inch long, 
ovoid, smooth, orange-red ; under the 




Fig. 155. — Sweet Brier 
(Rosa rubiginosa). X j. 



216 



ROSACE AE (ROSE FAMILY) 



rather thin skin is a layer of soft pulp, but within they are 
stuffed with the hard, hairy, straw-colored achenes. 



Means of control 

Old bushes require grubbing for their removal. Young ones, 
while the canes are still green, may be destroyed by repeated cut- 
ting and salting, or by treating with a little caustic soda about the 
roots. 

PRAIRIE ROSE 

Rosa arkansdna, Porter. 

Other English names: Running Brier-rose, Prairie Bramble. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: June to July. 

Seed-time : Hips ripe in autumn but retained until winter. 

Range: Manitoba, Minnesota, and the Dakotas, southward to 

Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. 
Habitat : Prairies ; fields, meadows, 

pastures, waste places. 



In spite of its beauty this plant is 
considered a bad weed throughout its 
range, for, though itself but one or 
two feet tall, it has long, deep-run- 
ning, branching, underground stems, 
which, from the axils of their scales, 
send up many flowering shoots. It is 
especially troublesome in grain fields 
and is now established in a number 
of eastern localities, the seeds having 
been an impurity of western oats. 

Stem erect, slender, bristling with 
very thin, fine prickles. Leaflets 
seven to eleven, obovate, finely and 
sharply toothed, smooth on both 
sides, seldom more than an inch 
long ; stipules long and narrow, some- 
times toothed above, and more or 
less glandular. Flowers pink, large, 




Fig. 156. 
(Rosa 



— Prairie Wild Rose 
arkansana). X i- 



ROSACE AE (ROSE FAMILY) 217 

often more than two inches broad, occasionally solitary but usually 
growing in open corymbose clusters. Hips globular, smooth, about a 
half -inch in diameter, crammed with hard, hairy achenes. (Fig. 156.) 

Means of control 

If the plants are young and few, grub out the colonies, securing, 
if possible, every shred of the roots tocks ; in ground rankly infested, 
cut the stalks from the rootstocks with a very sharp-bladed plow 
in the hot days of July. New shoots will promptly appear, which, 
at intervals of not more than two weeks — ten days would be 
better — must be disked, or cut off with a sharp and broad- 
bladed cultivator, in order to keep leaf growth from feeding the 
rootstocks. Next season put in a cultivated crop of which the 
tillage will constantly keep the shoots cut off, and so starve the 
underground stems. 

WILD BLACK CHERRY 

Primus serotina, Ehrh. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by the stones, or pits. 

Time of bloom : May to June. 

Seed-time: A drupe, ripe in August and September. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Florida, westward to the Dakotas and 

Arizona. 
Habitat : Woodlands, and also common along fence rows, roadsides, 

and waste places. 

The Black Cherry is often a large tree and a most valuable one 
to dealers in fine cabinet-making woods. It has reddish bro\\Ti 
twigs, with somewhat bitter, aromatic, inner bark. The leaves are 
somewhat thick in texture, smooth and shining on the upper side, 
broadly lance-shape to oblong, taper-pointed, the teeth incurved 
and short. The flowers are white and grow in elongated terminal 
racemes ; the fruits which follow are purplish black drupes, 
slightly bitter but pleasant to the taste. 

It is not the mature tree that must be placed on the list of noxious 
plants, but its numerous progeny of young shoots which spring 
up everywhere about the country. Birds are very fond of the 
juicy fruits and eat great quantities, voiding the stones along 
fence rows and telephone lines, with the result that those land- 



218 LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 

marks are often bordered by thickets of Black Cherry sprouts. 
The leaves of this and kindred plants, under certain conditions, 
contain a dangerous quantity of hydrocyanic acid, commonly called 
prussic acid, a most virulent poison. When eaten by cattle and 
sheep, the complex chemical changes that take place within the 
animals' stomachs liberate the poison, frequently with fatal effect. 
The common Choke Cherry (Primus virginiana) also con- 
tains prussic acid, but in a less amount than the Black Cherry. 
Leaves from large trees or old but stunted shrubs are not nearly so 
dangerous as leaves from young, rapidly growing sprouts. Both 
fresh and wilted leaves are poisonous, but chemists have demon- 
strated by experiment that ** Leaves wilted in bright sunlight to 
about 75 per cent of their original weight, or until they begin to 
appear slightly limp and to lose their gloss, yield the maximum 
amount of prussic acid." It is stated that a half-pound of Black 
Cherry leaves is a fatal quantity for a cow to eat, and a much less 
quantity will kill a sheep. 

Means of control 

Yearling Cherry sprouts may be easily and quickly pulled when 
the ground is soft, leaving no stubs to put forth more leaves. Older, 
shrubby growths should be closely cut, or, better, grubbed out, 
before coming into leaf, if they are situated where cattle or sheep 
are likely to browse them. Often grazing animals will eat litter 
that is lying on the ground, even though they have not contracted 
the habit of browsing from standing growth ; therefore all the 
brush cut should be put out of harm's way by piling and burning. 

WILD SENNA 

Cassia marildndica, L. 

Other English names: American Senna, Yellow Locust Plant. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to August. 

Seed-time: September to October. 

Range: New England to Florida, westward to Michigan and 

Indiana. 
Habitat: Moist, open ground ; pastures and meadows. 

The roots of Wild Senna are spreading, contorted, woody, and 
black, mostly horizontal, but yet gathering nourishment from the 



LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 219 

depths through a mass of stringy feeding fibers, also black. With 
such a food reserve, no wonder it is able to send up yearly such a 
quantity of growth above ground ; for each plant is a collection of 
many woody stalks, three to six feet tall, erect, slender, pale green, 
round, smooth, or slightly grooved at base ; when young, both 
stems and leaf-stalks may be slightly hairy. Leaves alternate and 
set rather far apart, pinnately compound, with five to nine pairs of 
smooth, oblong leaflets, dark green above and paler below, the 
edges entire and the midvein extending beyond the rounded tip in a 
bristly point ; petioles short, yellow, grooved on the upper side, and 
having a prominent, club-shaped gland set just above the swollen 
base. Flow^ers bright yellow, springing in many loose clusters 
from the upper axils ; calyx-lobes five, very narrow and reflexed ; 
five unequal petals, three close together at the top, the two below 
larger and spreading ; ten yellow stamens with filaments of dif- 
fering lengths, tipped with brown anthers of differing sizes, the 
three lowermost ones largest. Pods about three inches long, flat, 
curved, slightly constricted between the seeds, hairy when young 
but becoming smooth as they ripen, and turning to a dark reddish 
brown. Seeds flat, dark brown, usually four to eight in a pod, 
possessed of very long vitality when in the soil. A "Wild Senna 
plant in bloom has a look of elegance, as though it cared for its 
own fine appearance. Grazing animals leave it undisturbed, or if 
scarcity of forage drive them to browse its leaves they suffer from 
"scours" as it has a strong cathartic action. It is one of the 
medicinal plants, and its leaflets, stripped from their stalks at 
flowering time and carefully dried, may be sold in the drug market 
for six to eight cents a pound. 

Means of control 

If the plants are few they may be grubbed out, but if plentiful 
this would be a task for Hercules. Cutting close to the ground at 
the time of bloom, repeating the operation as the roots send up more 
stalks, will finally exhaust their vitality ; but the treatment must be 
so persistent as to allow no opportunity for storing fresh nutriment. 
Dry salt on the cut surfaces will help to check new growth ; or the 
plants may be wholly and promptly destroyed by the use of 
caustic soda or hot brine about the roots, leaving the ground 
barren for a season. 



220 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



COFFEE SENNA 

Cassia occidentdlis, L. 

Other English names: Negro Coffee, Magdad Coffee. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to August. 

Seed-time: August to September. 

Range: Virginia to Indiana and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Habitat: Meadows and pastures, waste places. 



Like the Partridge Pea and the Wild Senna, this weed is strongly 
cathartic, and its young shoots, when harvested with hay greatly 

damage the quality, as animals feed- 
ing on it are subject to "scours." 
The plant is an immigrant from 
tropical America, and seems to 
have become acclimated during its 
slow northward march. 

Stems erect, smooth, light green, 
much branched, and three to six 
feet tall. Leaves pinnately com- 
pound with four to six pairs of 
smooth, long-pointed, ovate leaf- 
lets, one to two inches long; the 
slender petioles are lighter than 
the leaflets, and near the base of 
each is an egg-shaped, brownish 
yellow gland. Flowers in short, 
branching, axillary clusters ; each 
blossom about a half-inch broad, 
with five spreading yellow petals 
more nearly equal than those of 
the perennial Wild Senna ; ten brown anthers, the upper three of 
which are dwarfed and imperfect ; calyx-lobes oblong, obtuse. 
Pods smooth and slender, slightly curved, four to six inches long 
and about a quarter-inch wide, with thickened border; each 
contains about a dozen small brown seeds, which retain their 
vitality in the soil for at least two years and probably longer. 
(Fig. 157.) 




Fig 



157. — Coffee Senna (Cassia 
occidentalis) . X h 



LEQUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 



221 



Means of control 

Prevent seed production by early and persistent cutting through- 
out the growing season, treating the shorn surfaces with salt for 
the discouragement of new growth. For small areas, newly in- 
fested, hand-pulling is a paying process. 



PARTRIDGE PEA 

Cassia Chamcecrlsta, L. 

Other English name : Large-flowered Sensitive Pea. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time : September to November. 

Range: Massachusetts to Minnesota, southward to the Gulf of 

Mexico. 
Habitat: Dry, sandy soil ; fields, meadows, pastures, roadsides, and 

waste places ; most troublesome in the Southwest. 

Pastures rankly infested with this weed are nearly useless, for it is 
strongly cathartic and when eaten in any quantity by cattle and 
sheep they "scour" very badly ; grazing horses are sickened in the 
same way and must be relieved by 
change of forage. Young stalks are 
often mown and baled with the hay of 
infested meadows, causing the same 
trouble when the fodder is used in 
winter. 

The plant is low and spreading, often 
branching wider than its height of one 
or two feet. When young the stem 
may be sparsely hairy, but usually it is 
smooth and pale green. Leaves pin- 
nately compound, composed of ten to 
fifteen pairs of small, entire, lance- 
shaped leaflets each tipped with a 
sharp bristle ; petioles short, with per- 
sistent, awl-shaped stipules and having 
near the base a sessile gland. The 
leaves are sensitive, and at night 
"go to sleep" by folding their blades 




Fig. 158. — Partridge Pea 
(Cassia Chamcecrista) . X 3. 



222 LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 

face to face and drooping against the stalk. Flowers large, 
often more than an inch across, lifted on slender peduncles 
from the upper axils, singly or in clusters of two or three; 
they are bright golden yellow, but often two or three of the 
rounded petals are spotted with purple at the base, and usually 
six of the anthers are purple and four are yellow. Pods 
slender, about two inches long, slightly hairy ; when ripe, they 
split apart with a slightly twisting action by which the seeds 
are thrown a short distance from the parent plant ; so that next 
year, where one weed grew there will be a little patch. (Fig. 158.) 

Means of control 

Prevent development of seed. Postpone all other work for a day 
and cut the Partridge Pea patches on noting the first golden bloom. 
Repeat the operation with the new growth which follows, and as 
soon as all dormant seed in the ground has stirred into life and been 
given like treatment the trouble will be ended. New infestations 
should be promptly pulled or cut before any seed is formed. Ground 
on which plants have been allowed to mature and scatter seeds 
should be burned over in order to destroy them. 



RATTLE-BOX 

Crotaldria sagittdlis, L. 

Other English names: Rattleweed, Wild Pea. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: June to July. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Massachusetts to Florida, along the coast ; bottom lands 

of the Missouri River in South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, 

and northern Texas. 
Habitat: Rich, moist soil; pastures and meadows. 

This plant is the cause of a sickness, called Crotalism by veterina- 
rians and Missouri Bottom Disease by the farmers, which is often 
fatal to horses and sometimes also to cattle, though deaths are less 
frequent with the latter than w^ith horses. The poisonous principle 
is in both leaves and seeds, and is not dissipated by drying but seems 
to be even more potent in plants that have been harvested with 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



223 



hay than in tho;?e that are green in the field. Its action is slow, 
often several weeks intervening before death. If recovery comes it 
is not complete, the animal being never so well again as before the 
attack of Crotalism. The weed is a relative of the dreaded Loco- 
weed of the plains, but does not cause the animals to "go plumb 
crazy," as does that plant. (Fig. 159.) 

The plant is small, seldom more than a foot in height, with a 
much-branched and hairy stem growing 
from a small, straight root. Leaves 
alternate, nearly sessile, lance-shaped, 
one or two inches long, pointed at both 
ends, entire or slightly wavy, with edges 
softly hairy ; they have curious stipules, 
shaped like an arrow-head, point down, 
with the ears sticking up on each side of 
the leaf and the point decurrent on the 
stem for a part of its length. Flowers 
yellow and very small, shaped like pea- 
blossoms, that is, with a corolla of five 
irregular petals, the upper one larger 
than the others, and enclosing them in 
the bud ; this broad upright petal is 
called the standard and is usually turned 
backward ; two lateral petals or wings, 
obliquely spread and outside of the 
two lower ones which cohere at their 
edges, forming the keel, which usually 
encloses the stamens and pistil. In this 
species the stamens are ten, one separate and nine of them united 
into a tube, cleft on its upper side, the anthers of two lengths and 
sizes, alternating with each other ; calyx two-lipped, the two 
upper lobes broadest, all five long-pointed and softly hairy. The 
flowers grow in clusters of two or three on slender, axillary pe- 
duncles. Pods black, very hard and brittle, about an inch long 
but swollen much larger than the small, black seeds within, which 
break from their hold when ripe and rattle about inside the stiff, 
thin walls. In winter these light pods are blown long distances 
over the snow, and thev can float like a l)oat on water. 




Fig. 159. — Rattlebox {Cro- 
talaria sagittalis). X \. 



224 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



Means of control 

Let the infested meadows be cleansed by fire, burning them over 
in August or at the time of maturing seeds, thus destroying all this 
year's plants and their progeny while not seriously harming the 
roots of the perennial grasses. If next year some seeds that have 
lain dormant in the soil spring up, see that the plants are either cut 
or pulled before seed development. Or, if too numerous for that, 
repeat the flaming purification. On lands that are not in danger of 
washing and can safely be put under the plow, a cultivated crop 
requiring careful hoe-culture should be grown before reseeding 
heavily with better forage. No annual plant so dangerous to the 
health of grazing animals should be allowed to survive. 




Fig. 160. — Dyer's 



DYER'S GREENWEED 

Genista tinctoria, L. 

Other English names: Woad-waxen, Dyer's 
Broom, Dyer's Whin, Base Broom, Alleluia. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds 
and by woody, creeping rootstocks. 

Time of bloom : June to July. 

Seed-time: July to August. 

Range: Maine to Massachusetts and eastern 
New York. 

Habitat: Dry uplands. 

Time was when the clothing of a New Eng- 
land household was spun, woven, and dyed at 
home ; then the Genista was cultivated as a 
useful and necessary plant. Used by itself, it 
colored woolen cloth yellow ; combined with 
Woad {I satis tinctoria), a blue-dye plant of 
the Mustard Family, it dyed green. But, its 
usefulness gone, it was left uncared for and 
''escaped," becoming so abundant in some 
localities that dry upland pastures are some- 
times yellow in summer with its bloom. Cattle 
will eat it when other forage is scarce, with the 



Greenweed {Genista result that its bitter taste is imparted to 



tinctoria) . 



the dairy products. (Fig. 160.) 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 225 

Stems usually not much more than a foot high, hard and woody, 
branching freely from the base, round, ridged, and without thorns. 
Leaves alternate, lance-shape to elliptic, sessile, entire, smooth and 
shining. Flowers in spiked racemes, each flower about a half-inch 
long, like a golden-yellow pea-blossom, sessile, with a small bract at 
its base. Pods about an inch long, smooth, and flat, each contain- 
ing several seeds which are very long-lived. 

Means of coiitrol 

Frequent and persistent cutting close to the ground, beginning 
at the first bloom and allowing no leaf -growth throughout the grow- 
ing season. More than one season of such persistent root-starva- 
tion may be required in order to subdue the weed, but, if not 
permitted to refill its underground storehouses with sustenance, it 
must succumb. 

WILD LUPINE 

Lupinus perennis, L. 

Other English names : Sun Dial, Wild Pea, Old Maid's Bonnets. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to June. 

Seed-time: Late June to August. 

Range: Maine and Ontario to Minnesota, southward to the Gulf 

of Mexico. 
Habitat: Dry, sandy soil; meadows, woodland borders, waste 

places. 

A beautiful plant, often cultivated in eastern gardens. It is 
very commonly called Sun Dial because the leaves always face that 
luminary, the leaflets sometimes rotating ninety degrees on their 
own axes ; and at night they take a position as if for sleep, folding 
downward around the stem. The roots penetrate the soil to a great 
depth, finding moisture to keep the plant green and flourishing, 
even in late summer when neighboring plants suffer from drought. 
(Fig. 16L) 

Stems erect, rather stout and succulent, slightly hairy, ten to 
eighteen inches tall. Leaves lifted on long, slim petioles ; pal- 
mately compound, with seven to eleven softly downy, sessile leaf- 
lets, widest near the tip and tapering to the base, the midrib of 

Q 



226 



LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 



each extending beyond the tip in a minute, 
bristly point. Flowers numerous and very 
showy, on long terminal racemes, the 
corollas purplish blue, someiimes white ; 
shaped like pea-blossoms, with standard 
turned backw^ard at the sides, the wings 
united and enclosing the small, curved 
keel ; stamen tube not cleft, its anthers 
of two forms ; style incurved ; calyx two- 
lipped and deeply toothed. Pods broad, 
flat, very hairy, about an inch and a half 
long, two-valved, splitting in spiral coils 
at maturity and flinging to some distance 
the four or five seeds contained ; these 
have long vitality, often remaining dor- 
mant in the soil for many years. The 
seeds are also said to be very unwhole- 
some for grazing animals, though not so 
dangerously harmful as those of its west- 
ern relatives. 

Fig. 161. — Wild Lupine 
(Lupinus perennis). X \. Means of control 

Prevent seed development by cutting before the first flowers 
mature. Hay containing Lupines is wholesome if it contains no 
ripe seeds. The perennial roots may be destroyed by cultivation of 
the land, which should be put to a well-fertilized and well-tilled 
hoed crop before reseeding with clover or grass. 




NEBRASKA LUPINE 

Lupinus plattensis, S. Wats. 

Native. PerenniaL Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: June to July. 

Seed-time: July to August. 

Range: Nebraska, Wyoming, and the Dakotas. 

Habitat : Plains ; pastures and meadows. 

Lupines furnish western stockmen with much nutritious green 
Lorage and good hay. They are especially valuable in the late fall. 



LEQUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



227 



when they remain green and succulent after grasses and other 
plants have become dry. But observation and experiment have 
demonstrated that, during the time of seed development, Lupines 
are very injurious to grazing animals, particularly sheep. Cattle 
usually reject the seeds, selecting the leafy parts of the plant which 
seem to contain little, if any, of the poisonous property ; but the 
seeds and pods contain a dangerous quantity 
of a substance know^n as luyinotoxin, which 
causes a disease called lupinosis, the acute 
form of w^hich may cause death in a few 
hours, sometimes less than one. Sheep seem 
to have a preference for the pods, often nib- 
bling them from the plants and leaving the 
rest. Cornevin states that in 1880 more 
than fourteen thousand sheep died of this 
complaint in Germany, where Lupines of 
several species are much used as forage and 
for reclaiming sandy soils where clover does 
not readily *' catch." 

This is rather a large species, one to 
nearly two feet tall, the stems erect and 
branching, covered with fine, appressed, 
silky hairs which give it a glaucous ap- 
pearance. Leaves on rather long petioles, 
the leaflets seven to ten, about two inches 
in length, short-spatulate, usually obtuse, 
smooth above but appressed hairy beneath, 
giving a glaucous appearance. Racemes Fig. 162. — Nebraska 
long and graceful, the flowers large and not ^"^f^^ (Lupinus plat- 
crowded on the stalk, pale blue or pur- 
plish, the standard having a conspicuous blotch of darker color. 
Pods numerous, covered with appressed hairs, tw^o- to five-seeded. 
(Fig. 162.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by cutting while in early bloom or 
even before flowering. At times even the green fodder becomes 
dangerous, causing bloat and other symptoms of unwholesomeness. 




228 LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 

In Europe, where stall-feeding of farm animals is more commonly 
practiced than in this country, it has been found that Lupine 
fodder is rendered entirely innocuous by steam heating under 
pressure, which at the same time makes it much more palatable 
and fattening. Dry heat does not destroy the poison. In many 
places it would be advisable to put the ground under cultivation 
with the purpose of replacing these plants by some less dangerous 
member of the Legume Family. 



SILVERY LUPINE 

Lupinus argenteus, Pursh. 

Other English names: Blue Pea, Blue Bean. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to August. 

Seed-time: August to September. 

Range: Nebraska and the Dakotas to the plains of the Columbia 

River, southward to New Mexico and Arizona. 
Habitat : Prairies, hillside slopes ; wild pastures and meadows. 

On the sides of the vast foothills of the Rocky Mountains this 
and other species of Lupines often completely cover the ground for 
miles, and when in bloom the wide tracts of blue flowers are visible 
at a great distance. If the plant is to be used for hay it should 
be harvested while in bloom, or else very late, after the seeds 
have ripened and been cast from the pods. The leaves remain 
succulent until frost. 

This is a very variable species but is usually a somewhat shrubby, 
bushy-branched plant, one to nearly three feet in height, densely 
covered with fine, silky, appressed hairs. Leaves on slender 
petioles about as long as the blades, the leaflets five to eight, nearly 
smooth above but silvery-hairy beneath, linear to lance-shaped and 
pointed at both ends. Racemes terminal, usually densely flowered, 
two to five inches long ; calyx-lips unequal, the upper one rather 
broad, two-toothed, the lower one longer and entire ; petals usually 
purple but sometimes pale blue or cream-colored, the standard and 
keel sometimes finely hairy. Pods about an inch long, silky-haired, 
three- to five-seeded. 

Means of control should be similar to that of the Nebraska Lupine. 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 229 

LOW LUPINE 

Lupinus pusillus, Pursh. 

Other English names: Blue Pea, Low Blue Bean, 

Native. Annual, Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : April to June. 

Seed-time: June to August. 

Range: Kansas, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, westward through- 
out the whole Rocky Mountain region to the Sierra Nevadas, 
southward to Arizona and New Mexico. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; upland pastures and meadows. 

A low but rather stout plant, four to eight inches tall, the stems 
diffusely branched from the base and covered with fine, spreading 
hairs. Leaves on slim hairy petioles slightly dilated at the base ; 
leaflets five to seven, oblong, sessile, smooth above but hairy under- 
neath, little more than an inch in length and tapering toward the 
base from slightly wider tips. Racemes terminal, one to three inches 
long, on very short peduncles, the pea-like flowers closely crowded, 
small, about a quarter-inch in length, deep blue. Pods about 
three-fourths of an inch long, densely hairy, tipped with an awl-like 
beak, usually two-seeded. 

Low Lupines furnish an immense amount of good forage in 
spring and in autumn, but during the season of seed development 
they are considered dangerously unwholesome for grazing animals, 
particularly sheep. 

Means of control 

As the plant is an annual, the persistent prevention of seed devel- 
opment by frequent close cutting will destroy it. Dormant seeds 
may furnish a subsequent crop, which should have similar treatment. 



RABBIT-FOOT CLOVER 

Trifolium arvense, L. 

Other English names : Stone Clover, Old-field Clover, Pussy Clover, 

Hare-foot Clover. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to July. 
Seed-time: June to August. 



230 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



Range: Throughout eastern North America. 

Habitat: Meadows, pastures, grain fields, roadsides, and waste 
places. 

Stone Clover usually grows and is able to thrive on very dry, 
sandy, and gravelly soils, and it is a pity that it is not a better 
fodder plant. But its excessive hairiness 
causes cattle to dislike it and even makes 
it dangerous, particularly when eaten by 
horses, as the fuzzy flower-heads some- 
times collect into felt-like, compact masses 
called phytobezoars, or hair-balls, closing 
the intestines and occasionally causing a 
very distressful form of death. 

Stem six inches to a foot high, erect, 
slender, much branched, covered with 
fine, silky, gray hair. Leaves alternate 
palmately three-foliolate, with short peti- 
oles and narrow, awl-shaped stipules ; 
leaflets narrowly oblong or wedge-shaped, 
about an inch in length, obtuse or often 
notched at the tips. Flowers in dense, 
nearly cylindrical heads, a half-inch to an 
inch long, on slender, terminal peduncles ; 
corolla white or pinkish but hidden by 
the calyx-lobes, which extend far beyond 
it in five slender, awl-like points, thickly 
fringed with silky gray or pale reddish hairs. Pods very tiny, con- 
taining one or two seeds which are a frequent impurity of other 
clover seeds and of grasses and grain. (Fig. 163.) 

Means of control 

Enrich and cultivate the ground, seeding heavily to other and 
better members of the Clover Family. When Stone Clover is 
cured with hay, the danger from hair-balls is averted by cutting 
before the heads are matured. Also such prevention of seed- 
ing will cleanse the ground of the weed, if persistently re- 
peated until all dormant seeds have germinated and been thus 
destroved. 




Fig. 163. — Rabbit-foot 
Clover (Trifolium arvense). 
Xi 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



231 



YELLOW OR HOP CLOVER 

Tri folium agrarium, L. 

Introduced. Annual, Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Nova Scotia and Ontario to Michigan and Iowa, south- 
ward to Virginia. 
Habitat: Meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 

Were there no larger and better Clovers, this plant could not be 
characterized as a weed ; but, as it is, the places that it holds might 
be better occupied, and its seeds are a frequent 
impurity among those of its larger relatives. 
Stems smooth, slender, branching, usually erect, 
six to fifteen inches in height. Leaves light 
green, on petioles but little longer than the 
cohering, narrow, lance-shaped stipules ; the leaf- 
lets all grow^ from the same point, and are sessile, 
about a half-inch in length, obovate or oblong, 
and edged wdth very minute teeth. Heads 
axillary on peduncles much longer than the 
leaves ; they are small, oblong, rounded, densely 
crowded, golden yellow, the flowers having rather 
narrow, incurled standards and short, blunt keels ; 
the corollas are persistent and each flower turns 
downward on the stalk as it is fertilized, finally 
becoming dry and brown, the withered heads 
resembling small dried hops. The pods are one- 
seeded. (Fig. 164.) 




Fig. 164. — Yel- 
low or Hop Clover 
( Trifolium agra- 
rium). X k- 



Means of control 

Prevent seed development and distribution by early and frequent 
cutting. Cultivate and reseed the ground with larger and better 
forage plants. 

LOW HOP CLOVER 

Trifolium procumbens, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to September. 



232 LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 

Seed-time: June to October. 

Range : Throughout the United States and southern British America. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

Still more weedy and valueless than the preceding species, 
mature plants in dry and exposed situations sometimes becoming 
tumble-weeds. Stems many from the same root, slender, finely 
ridged, hairy, weak and reclining, three to ten inches long. Leaves 
small with short petioles, and broadly ovate, pointed, cohering 
stipules ; leaflets short, wedge-shaped at base, rounded truncate or 
notched at the apex, shorter than those of the preceding species, 
and differing also in having the lateral ones sessile but the terminal 
one on a distinct foot-stalk. Heads globose, scarcely more than 
a third of an inch in diameter, and lifted much above the leaves 
on slender, axillary peduncles ; corolla bright yellow, the standard 
broader than long, spreading, and persistent, becoming reflexed, 
and turning brown, exceeding and covering the small, one-seeded 
pod. 

Means of control 

Graze off with sheep, so preventing seed development. Put the 
land under cultivation and reseed heavily with larger and better 
plants of the Clover Family. 

WHITE SWEET-CLOVER 

Melilotus alba, Desv. 

Other English names: White Melilot, Tree Clover, Cabul Clover, 

Bokhara Clover, Honeylotus. 
Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to October. 
Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Throughout North America except the far North. 
Habitat : Roadsides and waste places ; common about towns. 

The Sweet-clovers are natives of Central Asia but came to us 
from Mediterranean Europe, where for centuries they have been 
grown for forage and as honey plants. Weeds only when they are 
permitted to make highways and by-places unsightly with thickets 
of dying stalks. Their good qualities are many. First, they are 



LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 



233 



"soil renovators," partly by reason of their large and deeply 
penetrating roots, which break up the soil, mellow, aerate, and 
drain it, and then, by their death and rapid decay, furnish it with 
humus ; also they bear on their roots many tubercles in which live 
those beneficent, nitrogen-gathering bacteria that make the earth 
better for their having lived in it. For this reason. Sweet-clover is 
often used to prepare the ground for the growing of Alfalfa. The 
hay is nutritious, but cattle do not like its 
strong odor and will not eat it until they have 
been "educated to the taste," which is usually 
done by turning them into the Sweet-clover 
field early in spring, when no other green 
forage is available. (Fig. 165.) 

Stems three to ten feet tall, round, slender, 
somewhat woody, many-branched, smooth 
except the young growing twigs, which are 
finely hairy. Leaves pinnately three-foliolate, 
the leaflets oblong to elliptic, obtuse or some- 
times even notched at the tip, very finely 
toothed, the foot-stalk of the middle one 
bent slightly upward ; petioles usually shorter 
than the blades. Flowers in long, slender, 
one-sided, axillary racemes, white and very 
fragrant ; corolla about a quarter-inch long, 
with narrow petals, the standard longer than 
the wings or the keel. Pods ovoid, wrinkled, 
net-veined, one- or two-seeded. When in the 
soil the seeds are said to retain their vitality 
for fifty years or more ; they are sometimes 
used by unscrupulous dealers for the adulter- 
ation of Alfalfa seed, which is somewhat similar in appearance 
but much more expensive. 

Means of control 

Close cutting as soon as the first flowers open; the plants will 
immediately sprout thick stools of flowering stalks, requiring a 
second and perhaps a third cutting, but if no seed is allowed to 
mature and drop into the soil there will be no further trouble, for 




Fig. 165. — White 
Sweet-clover (Melilo- 
tus alba). X 3. 



234 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



when it has flowered the plant dies. Small areas may be more 
quickly hand-pulled. 



YELLOW SWEET-CLOVER 
Melilotus ojfficindlis, L. 

Other English names: Yellow Melilot, Hart's Clover, King's Clover, 

Balsam-flowers. 
Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to October. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: Throughout North America except the 

far North. 
Habitat : Roadsides and waste places ; common 

about towns. 



A smaller plant than the preceding species 
with stems two to five feet tall, slender, erect, 
with many spreading branches, the growing 
twigs finel}" hairy. Leaflets oblong-obovate, 
with rounded tips, edges finely toothed ; peti- 
oles nearly as long as the blades. Flowers 
bright yellow, in long, one-sided, axillary ra- 
cemes, the blossoms slightly larger than those 
of White Melilot but less fragrant, the stand- 
ard and wings of nearly equal length ; the plant 
often flowers a week in advance of its white 
sister and holds in bloom somewhat later, 
which wins for it the liking of bee-keepers. 
Pods ovoid, transversely wrinkled, net-veined, 
often slightly hairy, one- or two-seeded. (Fig. 
166.) 

Means of control the same as for White 
Sweet-clo\er. 




Fig. 166.— Yellow 
Sweet-clover {Meli- 
lotus officinalis) . X \. 



BLACK MEDICK 

Medicago lupulina, L. 

Other English names: Yellow Trefoil, Hop Mediek, None-such, 

Black-seed Hop Clover. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 



LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 



J35 



Time of bloom : March to December. 

Seed-time: May until snow-covered. 

Range: Throughout the world in all temperate regions. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, waste places. 



Properly speaking, this plant cannot be called a weed, further 
than that it is much less ^'aluabIe for hay and forage than its larger 
relatives. Also the hulled seeds, though a trifle smaller, bear a 
strong resemblance to those of its tall perennial sister, the Alfalfa 
{Medicago sativa, L.), and unscrupulous dealers 
use them to adulterate the expensive Alfalfa 
seed. Grazing animals eat the plant readily 
and it makes good pasture. (Fig. 167.) 

Stems slender, softly hairy, one to two feet 
long, procumbent, branching at the base and 
spreading on all sides, with many shorter 
branches which are usually ascending. Leaves 
pinnately three-foliolate, also finely hairy, with 
rather long petioles, the leaflets obovate, 
rounded and slightly toothed at the tips, 
seldom more than a half-inch in length. Flowers 
only about one line long, bright yellow^, in small, 
oblong, dense heads or spikes about a quarter- 
inch thick and usually about tw'ice as long. 
Pods thin-skinned, kidney-shaped, net-veined 
and ridged, slightly twisted, containing one seed, 

black when ripe. 

Fig. 167.— Black 
,, . , , Medick (Medicago 

Means of control lupulina). xi 

Cultivation of the land and reseeding heavily with larger and 
more valuable members of the Clover Family, which will crowd 
out any renewal of the Medick from dormant seed. 




BUR CLOVER 

Medicago hispida, Gaertn. 
(Medicago denticulata, Willd.) 

Other English names: Toothed Medick, Winter Medick. 
Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 



236 



LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 



Time of hloom : May to July. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range: Nova Scotia and Ontario to Florida and Texas. Also on 

the Pacific coast and in Arizona. 
Habitat : Cultivated crops, grain fields, meadows, waste lands. 



This plant is often cultivated in the South and West for a cover 
crop and green manure, and also for winter forage. These pur- 
poses it serves very well, particularly if it is used while young, 
before the approach of the fruiting season causes the stems 
to become woody and innutritions ; but its hooked burs 
greatly damage the fleeces of sheep, and the 
long vitality of its dormant seeds causes the 
plant to retain possession of the ground 
when it is desired for other crops. (Fig. 
168.) 

Stems six inches to two feet long, branched 
at the base, some prostrate and some 
ascending, spreading in all directions. 
Leaves smooth, with obovate or broadly 
wedge-shaped leaflets, rounded and finely 
toothed at the tips ; petioles slender and 
variable in length, with toothed stipules. 
Heads one- to three-flowered, on peduncles 
shorter than the leaves, the corollas bright 
yellow and about a quarter-inch long. 
Pods several-seeded, twisted in a loose 
spiral of two or three coils, strongly net- 
veined, flattened, with thin keeled edge 
bordered with a double row of hooked 
spines. 

Means of control 

Fig. 168. — Bur Clo- Bum over the ground where plants have 
vev^iMedicago hispida). ^^^^^^^ ^^^^3 -^ ^^.j^j. ^o destroy the burs 

on the surface before plowing for other 
crops, which should be such as will require very thorough tillage. 
Seed the ground with other and better clovers that will supersede 
this one. 




LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



237 



BIRD'S-FOOT TREFOIL 

Lotus corniculdtus, L. 

Other English names: Bloom-fell, Ground Honeysuckle, Cat's 

Clover, Crow-toes, Sheep-foot. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: July to October. 
Range :^ Waste places and on ballast in New Brunswick and Nova 

Scotia, about the seaports of Eastern and Middle States. 
Habitat : Waste places ; in a few instances invading fields. 

An emigrant from Europe, where it is a widely distributed and 
very troublesome weed, native to Asia. It has a long, deep-boring 
root which renders it very resistant 
to drought, and a spreading habit of 
growth which enables it to crowd out 
all better plants growing with it. It 
is not considered poisonous, and has 
even been cultivated as a forage 
plant in some localities in the South, 
but grazing animals suffer from bloat 
and indigestion when they eat very 
much of it. (Fig. 169.) 

Stems many from the same root, 
slender, hairy, some erect and others 
prostrate, four inches to two feet long. 
Leaves sessile or nearly so, pinnately 
compound, consisting of five small, 
oblong leaflets, the basal pair appear- 
ing like large stipules, the other three 
like a trefoil at the end of the stalk, or rachis. Flowers numerous, 
in showy, umbellate heads lifted on slender peduncles three to six 
inches long ; corolla about a half-inch long, bright yellow, or the 
standard a coppery red. Pods linear, nearly an inch long, each 
containing several shining, light brown seeds. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development and starve the roots by close and 
repeated cuttings from the time of flowering until the end of the 




Fig. 169. — Bird's-foot Trefoil 
(Lotus corniculatus) . X 5. 



238 



LEGUMINOSAK (PULSE FAMILY) 



growing season. Small areas should be liand=pulled or grubbed out 
while in early bloom. 

HOARY PEA 

Tephrosia virginidna, Pars. 
(Crdcca virginidna, L.) 

Other English names: Wild Sweet Pea, Turkey Pea, Goat's Rue, 

Catgut, Devil's Shoe-strings. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by slender, creeping 

rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : June to July. 
Seed-time: August to September. 
Range: Ontario to Manitoba, southward to Florida, Texas, and 

Mexico. 
Habitat: Dry upland meadows, pastures, and woodland borders. 

It is fortunate that this plant has a preference for dry, sandy, and 
sterile soil, for the long, slender, and very tough rootstocks, which 

have given it the common names of 
Catgut and Devil's Shoe-strings, cause 
it to grow in large clumps or patches 
and make it very difficult to extermi- 
nate where it is well established. (Fig. 
170.) 

Stems erect, tufted, simple, ridged, 
hard and woody at the base, one to 
two feet high, leafy to the top. The 
whole plant is covered with soft, silky, 
whitish hairs, especially when young, 
making the foliage ashen-gra\^ or hoary. 
Leaves alternate, odd-pinnate, with 
seventeen to twent^'-nine narrowly 
oblong, entire leaflets, about an inch in 
length, the midrib of each projecting 
slightly as a minute bristle at the tip. 
At night the leaves take a position as 
for slumber, turning on their bases 
and folding themselves along the stem. 
Flowers in short, crowded, terminal 
Fig 170 —Hoary Pea (Te- ^^cemes ; cach blossom is nearly an 
jihrosia virginiana) . X j. inch long, with hairy, five-lobed calyx. 




LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 239 

a rounded, yellowish white standard tinged with purple, a rosy pink 
keel, and reddish purple wings ; the standard is softly hairy on 
the back. Pods one or two inches in length, flattened, often 
somewhat curved, densely hairy, and many-seeded. Wild turkeys 
are said to search for and fatten on the peas, though the plant 
has the reputation of being poisonous. The Indians used its 
string-like rootstocks for a vermifuge, and Pammel ^ states that it 
was used also for poisoning fish. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production and starve the rootstocks by cutting 
the stems close to the ground in early summer. Cultivate and 
enrich the soil. 

WOOLLY LOCO-WEED 

Astragalus mollisimus, Torr. 

Other English names: Crazyweed, Purple Loco, Stemmed Loco, 

Texas Loco. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Tiine of bloom : April in the southern limit of its range, to June at 

the northern limit. 
Seed-time: June to August. 
Range: South Dakota and Wyoming, southward to Texas, New 

Mexico, and Arizona. Most abundant in Colorado and western 

Kansas and Nebraska. 
Habitat : Open prairies ; lower mountain slopes ; wild meadows. 

The Loco-weed Disease in horses, cattle, and sheep is e\ ery year 
the cause of enormous losses to persons engaged in the business of 
raising live-stock in many of the Western States. The symptoms 
indicate much cerebral disturbance and affected animals are 
commonly said to be crazy. There are a number of plants that 
cause the disease, all of them Legumes and nearly related ; but this 
and the following species range most widely and are credited with 
the greatest amount of injury to the stock-raising industry. Horses 
and sheep are the chief suft'erers from the poison, though cattle also 
are frequently "locoed." 

Woolly Loco has a large, tough, woody, deep-boring root, some- 
times penetrating to a depth of six or more feet, from the crown of 
which spring tufts of short, brandling stems, a foot or less long, some 
1 Manual of Poisonous Plants, page 008. 



240 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



erect and some reclining on the ground for most of their length. 
The whole plant is densely covered with long, white, silky hair. 
Leaves alternate, odd pinnate, five to eight inches in length, com- 
posed of seventeen to twenty-nine leaflets, pointed-ovate, and 
about a half-inch long ; petioles slender, with membranous pointed- 
ovate stipules united to their bases. The 
peduncles spring from the lower axils and are 
longer than the leaves, so. that the short, 
dense spike of deep purple or violet flowers 
is held above them ; each flower is a little 
more than a half-inch long, and has a tubular 
calyx with five nearly equal teeth, an erect, 
oblong standard, narrow wings, and a blunt 
keel. Like the rest of the plant, the flower 
is hairy; the pods, however, are smooth, 
dry, leathery, about three-fourths of an inch 
long, slightly incurved, grooved at the sutures, 
two-celled, each cavity containing a number 
of seeds, which have very long vitality when 
in the soil. (Fig. 17L) 

Means of control 

During the years 1881 to 1885 the State of 
Colorado paid a bounty of 21 dollars a ton, 
dry, " for any Loco or poison weed dug up not 
Fig. 171. — Woolly less than three inches below the surface of 
Loco-weed {Astragalus the ground, during the months of May, June, 
mo isimus). 3. ^^^ July." After about two hundred thou- 
sand dollars had been spent, the law was repealed. But the ex- 
periment proved that if these plants are cut off at the root, well 
below the crown, when they are in full bloom, they never sprout 
again, but die. And a man with a sharp spade or a sharp and 
heavy hoe can destroy the plants very rapidly, cleansing a large 
extent of ground in a day. Dormant seeds may furnish another 
crop ; but if successive germinations are cut off before developing 
seed, the ground will be cleansed in the course of two or three 
seasons at a much less expense than is now suffered in losses of 
live-stock in a single year. 




LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 



241 



STEMLESS LOCO-WEED 

Oxytropis Lamberti, Pursh. 
(Aragdllus spicdtus, Rydb.) 

Other English names: Colorado Loco-vetch, White Loco-weed, 

White Rattleweed. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : April at southern limit of range, August at northern 

limit. 
Seed-time: June to October. 
Range: Minnesota to the Saskatchewan and British Columbia, 

southward to Texas and Mexico. 
Habitat : Prairies and foothills ; wild pastures and meadows. 




This plant not only has a far wider range than the preceding 
species, but also climbs higher up the mountain sides, being found 
in Colorado and Montana at an altitude 
of eight thousand feet. Where they grow 
in company, however, the Woolly Loco- 
weed is considered the more harmful. 

The root is hard, thick, woody, and scaly, 
boring deeply into the earth ; it is crowned 
with a thick tuft of nearly erect, odd- 
pinnate leaves, about four to eight inches 
long, with slender petioles and nine to nine- 
teen narrow, lance-shaped leaflets, about 
an inch in length and covered with fine, 
silky, whitish hairs ; stipules hairy, mem- 
branous, lance-shaped, united to the base of 
the petiole. The peduncles also rise from 
the crow^n, eight to twelve inches in height, 
holding the dense flower-spikes well above 
the leaves ; the flowers are usually white, 
and where the plant is abundant large 
areas appear as though covered with snow ; 
but in some localities, usually in the higher 
mountain regions, there is great variation, 
some flowers being pink, others yellowish 

or violet or purple; they are large, more Loco-we'ed {Ox yiro pis 
than an inch long, slender, with erect, ovate Lamberti). x j. 




Fig. 172. 



Stemless 



242 LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 

standard, narrow, oblong wings, and keel tipped with a sharp, pro- 
jecting point. (Fig. 172.) Pods sessile, imperfectly two-celled, very 
firm and leathery, densely hairy, long-pointed, and filled with small 
seeds which loosen and rattle about in the pods as they become dry. 

Means of control 

Like the preceding plant, White Loco-weed can be killed by deep 
cutting from the root, well below the crown — as was demonstrated 
by a Montana ranchman who lost three hundred lambs out of a 
herd of two thousand in one season from Loco poisoning ; the next 
year, while the plants were in bloom in May and June he hired two 
men to dig up the Loco-weeds on an area four miles square, the 
tools used being heavy, narrow, and very sharp steel hoes ; the 
plants never sprouted again and no further losses from Loco 
occurred on his ranch. 



WILD LIQUORICE 

Glycyrrhiza lepidota, Pursh. 

Other English name: Sweet-root. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: May to August. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Ontario, Manitoba, and Minnesota, to Hudson Bay, west- 
ward to British Columbia and Washington, and southward to 
Missouri, New Mexico, and California. 

Habitat : Open prairies ; fields, meadows, and pastures. 

Its hooked pods make this plant very obnoxious to western wool- 
growers, and it is a weed that is exceedingly hard to destroy. 
The rootstocks are long, thick, creeping, stored with sweet juices, 
whence it is called Sweet-root, a translation of the Greek generic 
name. These thick, juicy, deep-lying roots enable it to withstand 
drought and recover from much cutting and grazing. Stems erect, 
branching, one to three feet high, usually scurfy with fine scales. 
Leaves long-petioled, odd-pinnate, with eleven to nineteen oblong, 
pointed leaflets, entire, bristle-tipped, and specked with minute 
scales or dots, being scurfy when young and dotted when old. 
Flowers densely crowded on axillary spikes, shorter than the 



LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 



243 



leaves ; the corolla, a little 
less than a half-inch long, 
yellowish white with narrow 
standard exceeding the wings 
and blunt keel. Pods about 
a half-inch long, two- to six- 
seeded, brown, bur-like, bris- 
tling all over with short, hooked 
prickles, making fast to almost 
anything at a touch and widely 
distributed by animal trans- 
portation. (Fig. 173.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development 
and distribution by repeated 
cutting, beginning as soon as 
the first flowers whither. In 
order to kill the perennial 
rootstocks, the land requires 
to be kept under very thorough cultivation for three successive 
years, giving the weed "no chance to see daylight" throughout 
each growing season. Increased returns from the crops will repay 
extra tillage. 

HOARY TICK-TREFOIL 

Desmodium canescens, DC. 
(Meibomia canescens, Ktze.) 

Other English names: Seed Ticks, Wool Ticks. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: New England and Ontario to Minnesota and Nebraska, 

southward to Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. 
Habitat: Rich, moist soil; borders of fields and woods, roadsides, 

and waste places. 

To the wool-grower this is one of the most vexatious weeds 
that grow, for its "ticks" are glutinous as well as bristly-hooked, 




Wild Liquorice {Glycyrrhiza 
Icpidota). X h 



244 LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 

clinging to anything they touch, even a bare hand, and in fleeces 
they are very adhesive, carrying strands of wool with them when 
removed. Ticky wool is therefore sharply "cut" in the market. 

Stem erect, slightly ridged and grooved, sometimes attaining five 
feet in height but more often two or three feet tall, smooth below 
but the growing branches densely set with two kinds of hairs, some 
very short, fine, and hooked, others longer, spreading, and glutinous. 
Leaves large, trifoliolate, the leaflets broadly ovate, two to four 
inches long, the terminal one with a footstalk and larger than the 
lateral pair, rough-hairy on the upper surface, white-hairy and net- 
veined beneath ; petioles hairy and about as long as the leaves ; 
stipules heart-shaped, acute, persistent. Flowers in terminal com- 
pound racemes, very small, less than a quarter-inch in length, 
purple, the standard obovate and the wings attached to the short, 
blunt keel by a small transverse appendage. Pods four- to seven- 
seeded, constricted between the seeds above and below but most so 
on the under side, the joints longer than broad, net-veined, sticky, 
hairy, readily separating and adhering to anything at a touch. 

Means of control 

Close cutting while in early bloom, repeating the treatment as 
new shoots appear. Cultivation of the ground destroys the 
perennial roots. 

SHOWY TICK-TREFOIL 

Desmbdium canadense, DC. 
(Meibomia canadensis, Ktze.) 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time : Late August to November. 

Range: New Brunswick to the Saskatchewan, southward to the 

Carolinas and Oklahoma. 
Habitat: Woodland borders and thickets along streams. 

Stem two to six feet tall, stout, erect, ridged and grooved, very 
hairy. Leaflets oblong-ovate, nearly smooth above, finely ap- 
pressed hairy beneath, obtuse, with numerous nearly straight veins ; 
petioles very short, the uppermost leaves nearly sessile. Flowers 
in large panicled racemes, densely many-flowered, very showy; 



LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 



245 



similar in form to the preceding species but much larger, each 
blossom more than a half-inch long, bluish purple or sometimes 
nearly white. Pods three- to five-seeded, slightly curved, the joints 
roundish triangular, covered with hooked hairs. (Fig. 174.) 
Means of control the same as for the Hoary Tick-trefoil. 





Fig. 174. — Showy Tick- 
trefoil (Desmodium cana- 
dense). X i. 



Fig. 175. — Bush Clover 
(Lespedeza violaced). X i- 



BUSH CLOVER 

Lespedeza violdcea, Pers. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: New England to Minnesota, southward to Florida, 

Louisiana, and Kansas. 
Habitat: Dry, sterile soil; pastures and thin meadows; thickets 

and open woods. 



246 LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 

Cattle will eat this plant when it is young if there is no better 
forage, but it soon becomes hard and innutritious. Stems one to 
three feet tall, much branched, slender and spreading, sparsely 
hairy. Leaves few and rather small, pinnately three-foliolate, the 
leaflets a half-inch to two inches long, thin, oblong or elliptic, 
bristle-tipped, finely appressed-hairy on the under side; petioles 
often scarcely longer than the footstalk of the middle leaflet. 
Flowers in small axillary clusters on very slender peduncles much 
longer than the leaves ; corolla violet-purple, about a quarter-inch 
long, the keel often longer than the standard. Pod ovate, pointed, 
flattened, net- veined, about a sixth of an inch long, containing one 
seed. (Fig. 175.) 

Means of control 

Cut before the earliest flowers mature seeds. 

Cultivate and liberally fertilize the ground, reseeding it with 
clovers of a better quality which will smother the growth of this 
weed from dormant seeds. 

COMMON VETCH 

Vicia sativa, L. 

Other English names : Spring Vetch, Pebble Vetch, Tare. 

Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Eastern Canada and New England to the Dakotas, and 

southward to the Gulf of Mexico. Also on the Pacific Coast. 
Habitat: Grain fields, meadows, roadsides, waste places. 

This is the Vetch most commonly grown as a forage plant, and as 
a weed it is often a survival of former cultivation by means of self- 
sown, dormant seeds. Also the seeds are sometimes sown as an 
impurity with grass and grain seeds, and in such places it makes 
itself a nuisance by entangling and pulling down the crop, making 
the harvest difficult. (Fig. 176.) 

Stems one to three feet long, simple or branching from the 
base, hairy when young but later becoming smooth. Leaves 
pinnately compound, with broad, sharply toothed stipules 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



247 



and four to eight })airs of ol>long 
leaflets, slightly notched at their 
tips and with midrib project- 
ing as a fine, bristly point. Ex- 
tending from between the terminal 
pair of leaflets is a long forked 
tendril. Flowers on short axillary 
peduncles, usually in pairs, nearly 
an inch long and rather showy, the 
corolla being reddish purple or 
sometimes rosy pink, the stand- 
ard long obovate and notched at 
the top, the wings adherent to the 
curved keel. Pods slender, two to 
three inches long, hairy when 
green but becoming smooth, and 
slightly constricted between the 
small globular seeds as they ripen. 

Means of control 

Prevent the development of seeds 
by early and close cutting. In 
grain fields, many of the young 
seedlings may be raked out with a weeding harrow when the crop is 
but a few inches tall. Or, later, but while still in the young and hairy 
stage, the weed may be destroyed by the use of chemical sprays. 




Fig. 176. — Common Vetch {Vicia 
sativa). X h 



COW VETCH 

Vicia Crdcca, L. 

Other English names: Tufted Vetch, Blue Vetch, Bird Vetch, Tine 

Grass, Titters, Cat Fitch, Cat Peas. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range: Newfoundland to British Columbia, southward to New 

Jersey, Kentucky, Iowa, and Minnesota. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, and waste places. 



248 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



The most widely distributed of the Vetches, being very common 
in both Europe and Asia. Like nearly all of the Legume Family 
it has root tubercles which cause it to enrich the soil where it 
grows ; it furnishes good forage and good hay, but its tough, creep- 
ing rootstocks make it so difficult of removal from places where it is 
not wanted that it must often be rated as a bad weed. (Fig. 177.) 

Stems tufted, slender, angled, 
branching, two to four feet long, 
climbing by means of tendrils at the 
tips of the pinnately compound leaves 
and forming dense mats, smothering 
grass or other plants that grow be- 
neath, and entangling and pulling 
down the crop when growing in a 
grain field. Leaves sessile or nearly 
so, composed of eighteen to twenty- 
four thin, narrowly oblong, entire 
bristle-tipped leaflets. The whole 
plant is covered with fine, close- 
pressed hairs and is a soft olive green 
in color. Flowers numerous, on 
slender, one-sided axillary racemes 
about as long as the leaves, the 
standard and wings of the corollas 
being narrower than in the preceding 
species ; each blossom is about a 
half-inch long, violet-blue in color, 
and hangs reflexed on its stalk. Pods 
smooth, about an inch in length, and contain five to eight small, 
dark brown, globular seeds. They are frequently an impurity of 
grass and clover seeds and are somewhat troublesome to remove. 

Means of control 

In grain fields, very many of the seedlings that have not yet 
begun to cling maybe raked out with a weeding harrow in the spring. 
Infested meadows should be broken up and put to a well-tilled hoed 
crop such as corn or potatoes, followed by oats and clover. In 
places where cultivation is not desirable, the rootstocks must be 




177. — Cow 

Cracca) . 



{Vicia 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 249 

starved by close, repeated, and persistent cutting throughout the 
growing season. Or, as the finely downy foliage is somewhat sus- 
ceptible to injury from chemical sprays, leaf-growth may be held 
in check and seeding prevented by this means, but the treatment 
must be repeated as often as the plants make recovery from the 
roots. 

HAIRY VETCH 

Vicia villosa, Roth. 

Other English naines : Winter Vetch, Hairy Tare. 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to September. 

Seed-time: June to October. 

Range: Locally in most parts of the country, but most common in 

the southern states from Pennsylvania to Georgia. 
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

Hairy Vetch is frequently planted for a cover crop or for fodder, 
and is inclined to persist or to escape to roadsides and waste places. 
It resembles the Cow Vetch in form and habit, but is covered all 
over, stems, leaves, and even flower-stalks and pods, with persistent, 
long, soft hairs. Stems one to three feet long, with short, petioled 
pinnate leaves having lance-like stipules and twelve to twenty 
oblong leaflets, which are obtuse or varying to lance-shape or 
linear. Racemes three to six inches long, many-flowered, with 
rather short peduncles ; the blossoms are violet and white, often 
nearly an inch long — almost twice the length of those of Vicia 
Cracca — with calyx-lobes bristly hairy on the lower side and the 
corollas not so slim, with standard and wings somewhat more 
spreading. The hairy pods contain six or eight small, dark, 
globular seeds. 

Means of control 

Destroy winter plants by hoe-cutting or by surface cultivating 
of the ground, or they may be grazed off in early spring. Prevent 
seed development by cutting while in first bloom — and, if abun- 
dant, curing for hay. All waste-land and roadside plants should 
be destroyed. 



250 LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 

EVERLASTING PEA 

Ldthyrus latifolius, L. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to August. 
Seed-time: August to September. 

Range: Locally from Ontario to southern New York and Con- 
necticut. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, and waste places. 

A showy plant, often cultivated in gardens for its beauty and 
becoming wild as an ^'escape." Stem often six feet or more long, 
smooth, angled, and broadly winged between the joints ; the leaves 
also have winged petioles. Leaflets a single pair, broadly elliptic 
in shape, rather thick, strongly nerved, one to three inches long and 
a half -inch to an inch wide ; tendrils short, with angled stalks, 
usually triple-branched ; stipules large, lance-shaped, auricled at 
the base on the outer side. Flowers densely bunched or clustered 
at the end of a stiflP, angled peduncle rising from the axils ; they are 
about the size of Sweet Peas or even larger, but without fragrance, 
usually rosy pink in color but may be either purple or white. Pods 
one to three inches long, smooth, and many-seeded. These seeds, 
like those of the Meadow Pea, contain an alkaloid which makes 
them most unwholesome food for animals if eaten uncooked, caus- 
ing a disease called Lathyrism, affecting the nervous and muscular 
systems and ending in paralysis. 

Means of control 

Small areas should be grubbed out when first observed. Rankly 
infested ground should be put under cultivation of the most 
thorough kind. Seeding should be prevented by close cutting 
before the first flowers have matured, as the seeds have long vital- 
ity when in the soil. 

TUBEROUS WILD PEA 

Ldthyrus tuberosus, L. 

Other English names: Wild Sweet Pea, Tuberous Sweet Pea. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by tuber-bearing 

rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : June to August, 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



251 



Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Locally established in Vermont and Ontario. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, and waste places. 



This plant bears numerous flowers of charming color and fra- 
grance, and these pleasant traits may blind many eyes to other quali- 
ties that fit it to become a very noxious 
weed. The tough, slender rootstocks 
bear many small tubers from which new 
plants are produced, and the plant also 
fruits abundantly above ground. It 
grows in dense mats, smothering all other 
plants that grow with it. Ordinary cul- 
tivation only serves to spread it by 
breaking the rootstocks and scattering 
the tubers. 

Stems smooth, very slender, one to 
three feet long, with thin leaves and 
stipules ; each pinnate leaf has but two 
oblong leaflets a little more than an 
inch long ; petioles, slim and wiry, the 
tendrils hair-like and usually not branched. 
Racemes on very slender axillary pedun- 
cles, three- to six-flowered. Blossoms 
fragrant, not quite an inch long, with 
erect standard and obliquely spread 
rosy pink or reddish purple wings. 
Pods smooth, with globular, dark seeds, 
which, as forage, are dangerously un- wUd'^PeV fL^JrL'UZ! 
wholesome. (Fig. 178.) sus). x §. 




Means of control 

Prevent seeding and check the growth of rootstocks by close and 
persistent cutting throughout the growing season ; then plow late 
in the fall, and in the next spring put the ground to a well-tilled 
hoed-crop, permitting no leaf-growth to the weed. A second sea- 
son of such root-starvation may be required, but increased returns 
from the crops repay the expense of extra tillage. 



252 LEGUMINOSAE (PULSE FAMILY) 

MEADOW PEA 

Ldthyrus pratensis, L. 

Other English names: Yellow Vetchling, Yellow Tar-fitch, Craw- 
Peas, Mouse-Peas. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: New Brunswick, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, and 
Ontario. 

Habitat: Locally in fields and waste places. 

This plant is accounted a worthless and troublesome weed 
throughout Europe and Russian Asia, and, since the areas where it 
has established itself in this country are as yet few and small, it 
would be well to keep it from wider dissemination, or even to stamp 
it out in as many of these restricted localities as possible. Like 
other plants of the genus Lathyrus, it is poisonous to grazing animals 
when eaten in any considerable quantity, especially when seeding ; 
and persons who have eaten the seeds have suffered with violent 
headache and nausea. 

Stems one to three feet long, weak, slender, angled and branch- 
ing. The pinnate leaves consist of two bright green, narrowly 
lance-shaped leaflets, smooth and pointed at both ends, a long, 
curling tendril extending between them ; stipules large, long- 
pointed, and leaf-like, auricled at the base on the outer side. 
Racemes axillary, on peduncles much longer than the leaves, bear- 
ing four to nine bright yellow blossoms about a half-inch long 
with broadly obovate standard and wings nearly equaling it in 
length. Pods a little more than an inch long, slender, thin, and 
smooth, containing many small, dark, globular seeds. 

Means of control 

Prevent development of seed by cutting repeatedly during the 
growing season, w^hich will also starve the perennial roots. Small 
areas should be hand-pulled or grubbed out. Ground too rankly 
infested to be cleansed by land-labor should be put to some crop 
requiring very close cultivation. 



LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 



253 



TRAILING WILD BEAN 

Strojyho styles helvola, Britton 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-tirne: July to October. 

Range : Atlantic States from Massachusetts to Florida ; along the 
Great Lakes from Quebec to Minnesota, and southward through 
the Mississippi Valley to the Gulf of Mexico and Texas. 

Habitat : Sandy fields ; shores of lakes and streams. 

Usually this plant is prostrate, trailing or twining to a length of 
three to eight feet, branching at the base, and with leaves at some- 
what distant intervals ; but occasion- 
ally it will have a stouter, more leafy 
stalk, held erect and less than two 
feet tall ; in either form rough, with 
downward-pointing hairs. The plants 
are said to be very nutritious and are 
much liked by grazing cattle, but in 
cultivated fields they are often rather 
troublesome. 

Leaves pinnately trifoliolate with 
slender petioles and very small, narrow, 
pointed stipules ; leaflets one to three 
inches in length, rather long ovate, 
the lateral ones often obtusely lobed 
on the outer sides and the terminal one 
on both sides, or the upper leaves may 
have entire leaflets and the lower ones 
be distinctly three-lobed. Flowers axil- 
lary, lifted on long, slender peduncles 
in dense capitate clusters of three to 
ten pale purple blossoms, fading to a 
greenish color, the keels curved and 
slender, the standards rounded and 
about a half-inch wide. Pods round, 
slender, sessile, nearly smooth, tipped 
with the persistent bent style, four- to eight-seeded, the beans 
downy. (Fig. 179.) 




Fig. 179. — Trailing Wild Bean 
(Strophostyles helvola). X s- 



254 LEGUMINOSAE {PULSE FAMILY) 

Means' of rotifrol 

Prevent seed production by lioe-cutting while small. Dormant 
seeds often germinate and bloom late, after horse cultivation of 
crops has ceased. Follow the cultivated crop with heavy seeding 
to clover or cowpeas. 

PINK WILD BEAN 
Slrophostyles umbelldta, Britton 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : New York to Missouri, southward to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat: Moist, sandy soil; fields and waste places. 

More persistent and troublesome than the preceding species, 
because perennial. Stems often several from the same rootstock, 
two to five feet in length, very slender, branched, and trailing. 
Leaflets smaller and thinner in texture than the preceding species, 
sparsely hairy, long-ovate to oblong, usually somewhat obtuse at 
apex and rounded at base, entire, or rarely slightly lobed, the 
petioles generally shorter than the leaflets, with small, lance-shaped 
stipules. Flowers in umbellate heads on slender peduncles often 
three times as long as the leaves, with short pedicels, the corollas 
pink, fading yellowish, the standard about a half -inch broad. 
Pods one to two inches long, very slender, straight, slightly flat- 
tened, the seeds within closely packed, truncate at the ends, 
covered with a glandular mealiness. 

Means of control 

In cultivated fields, close and persistent hoe-cutting throughout 
the growing season, in order to prevent seed development and starve 
the rootstocks. Grazing off when in grasslands, particularly with 
sheep. 

SMALL WILD BEAN 
Strophostyles pauciflora, S. Wats. 

Other English names: Few-flowered Wild Bean. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : .July to September. 



OXALIDACEAE {WOOD SORREL FAMILY) 255 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Indiana to Minnesota and Nebraska, southward to the 

Gulf of Mexico. 
Habitat: Fields and meadows, banks of streams, waste places. 

A small, very slender, low-climbing plant, with stems fifteen to 
thirty inches long, clothed wdth fine, downward-turning hairs. 
Leaflets lance-shaped or oblong to linear, without lobes, obtuse at 
apex and rounded at base, entire, little more than an inch long and 
less than a half -inch wide. Heads two- to six-flowered, in capitate 
clusters, on peduncles much longer than the leaves ; corollas pale 
purple and only about a quarter-inch long. Pods very slender, a 
little more than an inch in length, flat, and very hairy. Beans 
purple, very small and flat, at first mealy but later smooth and 
shining. 

Means of control the same as for the Trailing Wild Bean. 



YELLOW WOOD SORREL 

Oxalis stricta, L. 
{Xanthoxalis striata, Small) 

Other English names: Upright Wood Sorrel, Sheep Sorrel, Sheep 
Poison, Sour-grass. 

Native. Annual or perennial. Propagates by seeds and by woody 
rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: April to September. 

Seed-time: Late May to October. 

Range: Nova Scotia to South Da- 
kota, southward to Florida and 
Texas. 

Habitat : In woods, cultivated ground, 
roadsides, waste places, even along 
the curbstones of city streets. 



Stems tufted on woody rootstocks, 
or annual seedlings single, upright or 
sometimes decumbent, branching at 
the base, pale green, slender, covered 
with fine, appressed hairs. Leaves 
alternate, palmately three-parted, the 

leaflets about a half-inch long, bright ^^^ i^o. -Yellow Wood Sorrel 
green, smooth, deeply notched at the (Oxalis stHcta) . xh 




^^iii 



256 OXALIDACEAE {WOOD SORREL FAMILY) 

outer edge, sensitive, drooping against the stalk when plucked ; 
this position they also take at night ; petioles long, slender, also 
finely appressed-hairy. Flowers lemon-yellow, in open cymes of 
about two to four, on peduncles longer than the leaves, the 
pedicels slender and divergent, deflexed in fruit. Petals five, 
withering soon after opening ; stamens ten, five long and 
five short, the filaments united at base ; ovary five-celled ; five 
separate styles with terminal stigmas. Capsules large, cylindric, 
short-pointed, often more than an inch long. Seeds very small, 
brown, flattened ovoid, covered with transverse wrinkles. 
(Fig. 180.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by deep hoe-cutting or hand-pulling 
before the first flowers mature. 



LADY'S SORREL 

Oxalis corniculdta, L. 
(Xanthoxalis corniculdta, Small) 

Native. Annual or perennial. Propagates by seeds and by 

stolons. 
Time of hlooin: March to late October at the northern limits of 

range ; throughout the year where not snow-covered. 
Seed-time: Throughout the year. 
Range: New Jersey to Kansas, southward to the Gulf States and 

Mexico. 
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, waste places. 

This plant, like the preceding one, may be called annual, in 
that it flowers and fruits during its first year of life; but this 
species prolongs its existence through its many slendei^ runners. 

Stems low, with spreading branches, those at the base creeping 
on the ground, three inches to a foot or more long, rooting at the 
joints, those above sparsely covered with fine, spreading hairs. 
Leaflets deep green, sometimes with a purplish tinge, notched at the 
outer edge, nearly smooth, often an inch broad. Flowers yellow, in 
umbellate or cymose clusters, peduncle and pedicels sparingly hairy, 
the latter not deflexed in fruit. Capsule smaller than that of the 



GERANIACEAE {GERANIUM FAMILY) 



257 



preceding species, a little more than a half-inch long, faintly five- 
sided, with tapering point. Seeds compressed ovoid, brown, trans- 
versely wrinkled. 

Means of control the same as for Wood Sorrel. 



SMALL-FLOWERED CRANE'S-BILL 

Geranium pusillum, Burm. f. 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seed. 

Time of bloom : May to September. 

Seed-time: June to October. 

Range: Ontario to British Columbia, southward to North Caro- 
lina, Nebraska, and Utah. 

Habitat : Cultivated ground, lawns and yards, roadsides, and waste 
places. 

This plant is frequently troublesome in lawns and its seeds are 
too often an impurity of the mixed grass seeds sold for making such 
green turf. Its seed capsules open elas- 
tically, scattering its progeny for several 
feet ; lawn-mowers also help in its dis- 
tribution, and soon the grass begins to 
be "run out" by the weed, especially 
when the turf is rather thin and the 
soil in need of enrichment. (Fig. 181.) 

It has a slender taproot, fringed with 
thready rootlets. Stem three inches to 
a foot or more in length, branching from 
the base, spreading or prostrate, softly 
hairy. Leaves rounded or kidney- 
shaped in outline but deeply five- to 
seven-lobed, the segments toothed at 
the tips, finely downy-hairy. Flowers 
in pairs, on short peduncles in the axils 
or opposite to them, about a quarter- 
inch broad, pinkish purple, the five 
petals notched at their edges ; five 
sepals, nearly as long as the petals, 
sharp-pointed but without awns ; stamens five ; the five united 
persistent styles form the "crane's-bill," which tips the five 




Fig. 181.- 
Crane's-bill 
sillum). X 2 



- Small-flowered 
{Geranium pu- 



258 GERANIAfJEAE (GERANIUM FAMILY) 

celled ovary and splits from the base when ripe. Seeds two in 
each cavity, very small, smooth, slightly flattened, reddish brown. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development. The best way of ridding a lawn of 
this intruder is to fill a common machine oil-can with crude carbolic 
acid and squirt a few flrops directly on the crown of the root as soon 
as the first small, pink blossoms make it noticeable among the 
grass. Or it may be cut from the root ^^'ith a knife or a small spud. 

ALFILARIA OR FILAREE 

Er odium cicutarium, L'Her. 

Other English names: Pin Clover, Pin Grass, Pin Weed, Stork's- 

bill, Heron's-bill. 
Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: April to September. 
Seed-time: Late May to October. 
Range: Nova Scotia to Oregon, southward to New Jersey, Texas, 

and Mexico. Very abundant on the Pacific coast. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; fields and waste places. 

In the arid lands of the West and the Southwest, the Filaree is 
valued as a pasture plant when young ; but where better forage is 
plentiful it is regarded as a weed. Stems tufted, six inches to a 
foot in height, hairy, somewhat viscid, reddish, usually branched 
above. Leaves pinnatifid, the segments again finely cut and 
toothed, the lower ones with petioles, the upper ones sessile. 
Flowers in umbellate clusters of two to twelve, pink or light purple, 
about a third of an inch broad ; petals five, with rounded tips ; 
sepals five, bristle-pointed and hairy ; stamen-bearing anthers five, 
alternating with as many sterile filaments ; carpels and styles five, 
united into a " stork's-bill " one or two inches long, when ripe split- 
ting from a central axis into spirally twisted and bearded awns or 
beaks with sickle-bent tips ; when damp the awns straighten and 
when dry they recoil, thus being easily caught in the fleeces of 
sheep, and the seed so distributed. (Fig. 182.) 

Occupying about the same range as this plant is a near relative, 
the Musk Clover, or Musky Alfilaria (Erodium moschatum, L'Her.), 



ZYGOPHYLLACEAE {CALTROP FAMILY) 



259 



a larger, coarser plant, with less 
finely divided leaves and some- 
what larger flowers. Less valuable 
as a forage plant, for cattle do not 
relish its musky odor and taste ; 
sheep, however, do not seem to 
object to it. Both plants invade 
grain fields to the disadvantage 
of the crop. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production. Put 
the ground under cultivation in 
order to stir dormant seeds into 
germination, and give such fre- 
quent tillage that no seedlings will 
be allowed to mature. 

GROUND BUR-NUT 
Tribulus terrestris, L. 




Fig. 182. — Alfilaria or Filaree 
{Er odium cicutarium). X h- 



Other English name: Land Caltrop. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range : Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, and Nebraska ; also about Atlantic 

seaports. 
Habitat: Pastures, waste places. 

The Caltrop is native to the Mediterranean regions of Europe, 
and is said to have been brought into its western range in the 
fleeces worn by imported sheep ; and it is a very troublesome weed 
to wool-growers. 

Stems eight inches to nearly three feet long, branching from the 
base, and often forking above, weak, slender, silky-hairy, some 
prostrate and others ascending, spreading on all sides. Leaves 
numerous, also silky-hairy, evenly pinnate, short-petioled, with 
ten to fourteen small, oblong, sessile leaflets, the pairs frequently 
unequal in size. Flowers axillary, on peduncles shorter than the 



260 



EUPHORBIACEAE (SPURGE FAMILY) 



leaves ; they are about a half-inch broad, with five hairy, pointed, 
persistent sepals and five fan-shaped, rounded, yellow petals, 
broader than long, which soon fall away ; stamens ten, as long as 
the petals ; ovary five-celled and hairy, the styles united in a 
column with five-ridged stigma. The fruit, or nut, is nearly a half- 
inch broad, and splits at maturity into five carpels, each one armed 
with two to four hard, often curved and spreading spines. Each 
carpel contains several seeds, which, protected by their hard, spiny 
covering, may lie dormant in the soil for more than one season. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by close cutting before the first flowers 
mature. No annual plant can long survive which is not permitted 
to foul the ground with its future generations. 




Fig. 183. — Spurge Nettle (Jatropha 
stimulosa). X i- 



SPURGE NETTLE 

Jatropha stimulosa, Michx. 

Other English names: Bull Net- 
tle, Tread-softly. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates 
by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to Septem- 
ber. 

Seed-time : June to November. 

Range : Virginia and Tennessee, 
south and west to Florida, 
Louisiana, and Texas. 

Habitat: Prefers light, sandy 
soils, but invades nearly all 
crops. 



The tough, woody, branching 
roots of this plant often penetrate 
the soil to a depth of three to 
five feet, taking to themselves 
what food and moisture is to be 
found. Herbaceous stems are sent 
up 3^early, one to three feet tall, 
slender, branching, bright green, 



EUPHORBIA CEAE (SPURGE FAMILY) 261 

bristly with stinging hairs, which produce, when in contact with the 
skin, a much more painful and lasting irritation than do those of the 
nettle. The leaves are similarly armed ; these are two to six inches 
or more broad, roundish heart-shaped in outline but three- to five- 
lobed, with prominent veins, wavy-toothed, and with prickly edges 
and long, bristly petioles. Male and female flowers are separate, 
the staminate ones usually in terminal clusters, the fertile ones in 
the axils just below. Calyx of the staminate flower white, fuzzy, 
the five lobes spread salver-shape, more than a half-inch broad, 
fragrant ; fertile flowers also five-parted but smaller, soon followed 
by three-celled, three-seeded, wrinkled, and bristly-hairy pods, 
about three-fourths of an inch long when mature. Seeds 
obovoid, smooth, nearly a half-inch long, mottled, and caruncled. 
(Fig. 183.) 

Means of control 

Cutting, again and again cutting, throughout the growing season, 
with a sharp steel hoe or a cultivator with broad and very sharp 
blades, in order to starve the roots and prevent all seed production. 

HOGWORT 

Crbton capitdtus, Michx. 

Native. Annual, Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: New Jersey to Iowa, southward to Georgia and Texas. 

Habitat: Dry, sandy fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

A very common and troublesome weed in the southern part of 
our area, particularly in the Gulf States. Stem one to two feet 
in height, erect, branching, densely soft-woolly with star-shaped 
hairs. Leaves also finely woolly on both sides, silvery green, 
oblong lance-shape wath rounded or heart-shaped base, entire, 
the larger lower ones mth petioles about as long as the blades, 
those near the top short-petioled. Flowers clustered at the summit 
of stem and branches ; they are monoecious, the sterile ones lifted 
on a short raceme, at the base of which the fertile ones are crowded 



262 



EUPHORBIACEAE (SPURGE FAMILY) 



on very short pedicels ; 
sterile flowers with five- 
parted calyx, five spatu- 
late fringed petals alter- 
nating with as many 
glands, usually ten sta- 
mens, or sometimes more, 
with filaments finely 
bearded below ; fertile 
flowers with seven- to 
twelve-lobed calyx, no 
petals, and three styles 
twice or thrice cleft. 
Seeds gray or brownish, 
rounded oblong, with a 
tiny knob or caruncle at 
the point ; they are often 
an impurity of southern 
alfalfa seed. (Fig. 184.) 

Means of control 

Fig. 18^. -HogwovtiCrotoncapitatus). xi Prevent seed produc- 
tion. Infested grass crops should even be harvested too early, 
in order to prevent continued fouling of the ground. Roadsides 
and waste places should be mown often enough to guard neighbor- 
ing soil from contamination. 




THREE-SEEDED MERCURY 

Acalypha virginica, L. 

Other English names: Wax-balls, Copper-leaf. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Florida and 

Texas. 
Habitat : Rich, moist soil ; a common barnyard weed and a special 

nuisance in clover fields. 

The seeds of this weed, when an impurity in those of clover, 
are so nearly of the same size and weight that they are almost im- 



EUPHORBIACEAE {SPURGE FAMILY) 



263 



possible to remove. Professor Selby, of the Ohio State Experiment 
Station, wisely remarks that "the time to remove such seeds is 
before the clover is cut." 

Stem six inches to two feet high, 
erect, somewhat hairy, often purplish 
or brown. Leaves alternate, two to 
four inches in length, long ovate, thin, 
dark green, often turning to a cop- 
pery brown, coarsely toothed except 
near the base. In their axils are the 
inconspicuous greenish flowers, male 
and female separate, but growing 
from the same point, the staminate 
ones being lifted on a tiny spike, the 
fertile ones just below, and both sup- 
ported by a large, leafy, cut-lobed 
bract, longer than either, usually 
about a half inch high. Capsules 
three-celled, each cavity containing 
one dull reddish brown or gray seed, 
egg-shaped, and easily crushed be- 
tween the fingers, which is the reason 
why they are called Wax-balls. (Fig. 
185.) 




Fig. 185. — Three-seeded 
Mercury {Acalypha virginica). 
Xi 



M^ans of control 

Pulling or cutting the weeds before any seeds have matured. 
Land badly fouled by the seeds should be put to a profitable and 
thoroughly tilled hoed crop for a season. 



THYME-LEAVED SPURGE 

Euphorbia serpyllifolia, Pers. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to September. 

Seed-time: June to October. 

Range: Michigan to California, southward to Mexico, Texas, and 

Florida. 
Habitat : Sandy, alluvial soils ; fields, gardens, waste places. 



264 EUPHORBIACEAE (SPURGE FAMILY) 

A common, worthless, and prolific little plant, not so much de- 
tested as it deserves to be, for it and all its kindred are more or less 
poisonous, their growth serving merely to impoverish the ground 
and befoul it with seeds for another generation. 

Stem four inches to a foot in length, branching from the base, 
declining or prostrate, slender, smooth, usually green on the under 
side but red where exposed to the light, filled with a poisonous 
milky juice. Leaves also reddish or red-spotted, opposite, less 
than a half-inch long, obovate or spatulate, obtuse, unequal-sided, 
finely and sharply toothed for about half their length, short- 
petioled, with narrow stipules ending in a fringe of weak bristles. 
Spurge flowers have neither calyx nor corolla, but are monoecious 
after an odd fashion ; there is a funnel-shaped involucre on a short 
terminal peduncle, in this case appearing lateral but not really 
axillary, bearing four small, disk-like glands, each subtended by a 
narrow, toothed appendage ; within the involucre are several male 
flowers, each consisting of a single stamen on a pedicel subtended 
by a tiny bract ; fertile flower a single three-celled, three-styled, and 
three-seeded ovary, at first in the bottom of the involucre but soon 
thrust out on a slender stipe and ripening in the outer air into a 
nodding capsule with three carpels, each holding one seed ; in this 
species the latter are hardly one-twelfth of an inch long, sharply 
four-angled, the faces cross-wrinkled and pitted. 

Means of control the same as for the ubiquitous Spotted Spurge. 

UPRIGHT SPOTTED SPURGE 

Euphorbia Preslii, Guss. 
(Euphorbia nutans, Lag.) 

Other English names: Stubble Spurge, Pasture Spurge, Eyebright, 

Slobber Weed. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to October. 
Seed-time: June to November. 
Range : All of North America east of the Rocky Mountains except 

the extreme north. 
Habitat: Dry fields and meadows, old pastures, roadsides, and 

waste places. 

Dry stubbles sometimes seem to redden with young Spurges in a 
few days after harvest, but usually the stalks were already there 



EUPHORBIACEAE {SPURGE FAMILY) 



265 



and it is their rapid stooling after beheading that causes the swift 
appearance. Its acrid, milky juice is credited with causing " slob- 
bers" in grazing cattle and horses, and another symptom of Spurge 
poisoning is a wide-staring, glassy brightness of eyes, whence the 
common names. (Fig. 186.) 

It is a graceful plant, with slender, round, wiry, reddish stem, 
six inches to two feet or more in height, smooth or nearly so, fork- 
branched and spreading. Leaves nar- 
rowly oblong, varying to ovate, or 
sometimes lance-shape and slightly 
curved, a half inch to an inch long, 
often with unequal sides, usually with 
red margins and a brownish red blotch 
in the center, finely and sharply 
toothed, with short petioles and tri- 
angular stipules. Flowers on peduncles 
longer than the petioles, the involucres 
narrowly obovoid, the four glands sub- 
tended by rounded, entire, white or 
red appendages. Pods smooth, the 
seeds grayish black, long ovoid, obtusely 
four-angled, wrinkled and tubercled 
between. They are nearly always 
found in clover and grass seed. 

Means of control 

Fig. 186. — Upright Spotted 
Burn over infested stubbles in order Spurge {Euphorbia PreslU). 

to kill the stalks and destroy the seeds ^ ^• 

on the surface of the ground. On cultivated ground, per- 
sistently hoe-cut or hand-pull the weed before seed matures. 
Infested meadows should be put to some well-tilled crop, liberally 
fertilized, before reseeding heavily to grass or clover. 




HAIRY SPURGE 

Euphorbia hirsiita, Wiegand 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 



266 EUPHORBIACEAE (SPURGE FAMILY) 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Quebec and Ontario, southward to New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
vania, Ohio, and Illinois. 
Habitat : Dry, sandy soil ; fields, roadsides, waste places. 

A very common, small, and spreading plant, with hairy stems 
three to ten inches long, branching from the base, zigzagged and 
forking, nearly prostrate. Leaves oblong-ovate, from a quarter- 
inch to a half-inch long, finely toothed nearly to the oblique base, 
the petioles extremely short. Flowers on peduncles considerably 
longer than the petioles, the involucres funnel-shaped, bearing four 
stalked brown glands, concave at top, and subtended by white, 
slightly toothed appendages. Pods smooth, with rounded angles ; 
seeds black with a pale transparent coating, sharply four-angled, 
faintly wrinkled on the sides between. 

Measures for its suppression the same as for Spotted Spurge. 

SPOTTED SPURGE 

Euphorbia maculdta, L. 

Other English names: Creeping Spurge, Milk Purslane, Spotted 

Matweed. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to October. 
Seed-time: July to November. 

Range : Throughout the American Continent except the far North. 
Habitat: Gardens, fields, roadsides. Found in all crops, but most 

common in dry soil of low fertility. 

Of all the Spurges, this one seems the most hardy and adaptable, 
able to grow anywhere and to endure any hardship ; it often appears 
from the cracks of flags and paving stones in cities, and flourishes 
while being trodden under foot. From such a place the writer 
pulled the thrifty specimen from which this description is written. 
Every part of it, even the root, exudes a poisonous milky juice 
which will irritate the skin to a red rash or in a short time blister it. 
Apparently nothing eats the weed, even insects leaving it untouched. 
(Fig. 187.) 

It has rather long, branching, and fibrous roots, with many 
fine feeding rootlets. Stem round, slender, finely hairy, pros- 
trate, three inches to a foot or more in length, with numerous 



EUPHORBIACEAE (SPURGE FAMILY) 



267 



branches extended in all directions, red where exposed 
light but green underneath. Leaves opposite, oblong, 
quarter-inch to nearly an inch in length, short-petioled, ver 
toothed, usually with a purplish brown 
spot near the center ; stipules nearly linear, 
tipped with a fringe of bristles. Flowers 
on peduncles about as long as the petioles, 
the involucres bearing four minute, cup- 
shaped glands with narrow red appendages. 
Pods angled and hairy, with ash-gray, 
four-angled seeds which are a frequent im- 
purity in the seeds of grass and clover. 



Means of control 

In cultivated ground, persistent hoe- 
cutting as soon as the first flowers appear. 
Grasslands badly infested should be put 
under cultivation, the ground being fer- 
tilized well before reseeding heavily to 
grass or clover. 



to the 
from a 
y finely 




Fig. 187. — Spotted 
Spurge (Euphorbia macu- 
lata). xh- 



SNOW-ON-THE-MOUNTAIN 

Euphorbia marginata, Pursh. 

Other English name: White-margined Spurge. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloorn: May to September. 

Seed-time: June to October. 

Range: Minnesota to Colorado, southward to Texas, spreading 

eastward to Ohio; introduced in Eastern States and freely 

escaping. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; fields, pastures, waste places. 

The handsomest of our native Spurges, but dangerous to handle, 
as the copious milky juice when in contact with the skin causes a 
swelling and eruption similar to that produced by Poison Ivy; 
persons unacquainted with its quality often pluck it for its beauty 
and suffer for it. Honey made from its flowers is poisonous and 
unfit to use, acting as a violent emetic and purge. 

Stem rather stout, two to three feet tall, erect, slightly grooved. 



268 EUPHORBIACEAE {SPURGE FAMILY) 

usually hairy. Leaves oblong-ovate, pointed, entire, sessile, those 
on the stalk few and scattered^ with a whorl at the base of the 
umbel, which has usually three fork-branched rays; the bracts 
subtending the involucres are large, numerous, whorled, broadly 
margined with white, very showy ; involucres clustered in the center, 
bellshaped, softly downy, bearing five glands subtended by white, 
kidney-shaped appendages. Capsule depressed, with rounded lobes, 
usually hairy; seeds bluntly ovoid, dark ash-gray, netted, and 
tubercled. 

Means of control 

Cut repeatedly, close to the ground, permitting no seed to be 
perfected. 

FLOWERING SPURGE 

Euphorbia corolldta, L. 

Other English names: White-flowered Milkweed, Poison Milkweed. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom : June to October. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: Ontario to Minnesota, southward to Kansas, Texas, 

Louisiana, and Florida. 
Habitat: Dry fields, old pastures, waste places. 

The deep, perennial rootstocks of this weed make it very dif- 
ficult to suppress. Grazing animals usually avoid it, seeming to 
know the quality of its milky sap, which is acrid and strongly 
emetic. 

Stem ten inches to two feet or more in height, bright green, erect, 
smooth or sometimes slightly hairy, often spotted, unbranched 
below the flower-cluster. Leaves narrowly oblong to lance-shape, 
obtuse at apex, smooth, rather thick, entire, one or two inches 
long, sessile or with very short petioles ; those at the base of the 
umbel whorled, but those on the stem scattering. Rays of the 
umbel slender, usually five, each again twice or thrice fork-branched, 
the flowers at the base of the forks being several weeks earlier than 
the terminal ones ; involucres on long peduncles, the five greenish 
yellow glands at the tip being subtended by large, white, rounded 
appendages simulating petals. Pod smooth, containing three 



EUPHORBIACEAE {SPURGE FAMILY) 



269 



bluntly ovoid, ash-colored seeds, about a twelfth of an inch long, 
smooth or faintly pitted. 

Means of control 

Small areas or scattering plants are most quickly and economi- 
cally ousted by grubbing up the rootstocks or by treating with a 
strong herbicide such as hot brine or caustic soda. Infestations 
too large to make such treatment practicable should be closely and 
repeatedly cut during the growing season, thus preventing any seed 
formation and starving the rootstocks, the process being kept up 
for at least two seasons. Or the land may be put under thorough 
cultivation, well fertilized, and then seeded to grass or clover. 



TOOTHED SPURGE 

Euphorbia dentata, Miehx. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range : Pennsylvania to Wyoming, south- 
ward to Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico. 

Habitat : Rich, moist soil ; fields, meadows, 
waste places. 

A robust-looking, grossly feeding weed, 
transforming into its poisonous foliage 
much of the fertility needed by its whole- 
some neighbors. Stem eight to twenty 
inches high, somewhat woody at base, 
erect and branching. Leaves two to four 
inches long, the upper ones opposite but 
at base alternate, varying in shape from 
ovate to nearly linear, coarsely toothed, 
hairy, with prominent veins on the under 
side, and with hairy petioles. Involucres 
in clusters at the ends of stem and branches 
on very short pedimcles ; they are bell- 
shaped, with five oblong, sharply toothed 
lobes, bearing usually one or sometimes 




Fig. 188. — Toothed Spurge 
{Euphorbia dentata). X \. 



270 EUPHORBIACEAE {SPURGE FAMILY) 

several short- stalked, yellowish glands without appendages. 
Capsules smooth, with rounded angles, nearly one-sixth of an 
inch in diameter. Seeds ashy-gray, obscurely four-angled, bluntly 
ovoid, the surface tuberculate ; they are often an impurity of grass 
and clover seeds. (Fig. 188.) 

Means of coritrol 

Infested meadows should be harvested early, before the first 
flowers mature seed. The poisonous qualities of the milky juice 
are volatile and disappear with heat or drying, and such hay is 
wholesome. In grain fields the seedlings should be harrowed out 
in the spring, for the spreading habit of growth of the plant will 
crowd and starve the crop ; if practicable, hand-pull the survivors ; 
if not, burn over the stubble. In cultivated ground tillage should 
be late in order to prevent the maturing of late-developed seed. 

PAINTED LEAF 

Euphorbia heterophylla, L. 
{Poinsettia heterophylla, Small) 

Other English names: Cruel Plant, Various-leaved Spurge. 

Native. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : May to October. 

Seed-time: June to November. 

Range: Illinois to Montana, southward to Mexico, Texas, and 

Florida. Widely distributed in tropical America. 
Habitat : Dry, sandy soil ; fields, waste places. 

The milky juice of this plant, like that of all its tribe, will irritate 
and blister the skin, and, if eaten by stock, will have a like effect 
on the inner membranes and make the animals very sick ; another 
reason for its name of Cruel Plant is that honey gathered from its 
flowers is acrid and emetic and unfit for use. 

Stems one to three feet tall, erect, smooth or nearly so, bright 
green, woody at base, with numerous branches, the lower spreading, 
the upper ones ascending. Leaves alternate and all with slender 
petioles, but most variable in shape, some being round, or ovate, 
or lance-shaped, or linear, with edges entire or toothed or wavy, 
often on the same plant; sometimes the upper leaves are fiddle- 



EUPHORBIACEAE (SPURGE FAMILY) 271 

shaped, and to add to their oddity are blotched with deep red. 
The involucres are in terminal clusters, each on a peduncle of about 
its own length, with five much incised, ovate lobes, bearing usually 
one, occasionally several, cup-shaped glands, which are sessile or 
nearly so, and without appendages. Seeds nearly globular, 
roughened with small tubercles. 

Means of control 

If not too numerous, the plants are best destroyed by hand- 
pulling as soon as observed ; or by cutting so closely and frequently 
that no seed will be allowed to mature. 



LEAFY SPURGE 

Euphorbia Esula, L. 

Other English names: Tithymal, Faitour's Grass. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Southern Maine to New Jersey, westward to Michigan. 

Habitat: Roadsides, waste places. 

Not a common weed in this country as yet, and should 
not be permitted to become so, for its creeping, horizontal 
rootstocks make it difficult to dislodge when once established; 
like the Cypress Spurge it grows in patches, smothering all 
weaker growths in its way. 

Stems thickh^ clustered, ten inches to two feet tall, erect, slender, 
scaly at base, smooth above, branching near the top. Leaves 
narrowly oblong to lance-shape, a half-inch to nearly two inches in 
length, entire, sessile, whorled at the base of the umbel, few and 
scattering on the stalk. Umbel compound, its many rays fork- 
branched and bearing numerous opposite, greenish yellow bracts, 
broadly heart-shaped, with midvein extended in a minute bristle ; 
involucres bell-shaped, nearly sessile, bearing four unappendaged, 
crescent-shaped brow^n glands. Capsule smooth, nodding on a 
long stipe ; the seeds drab-gray, oblong, round and smooth, car- 
uncled at base. 



272 



EUPHORBIACEAE {SPURGE FAMILY) 



Means of control 

Small areas, newly infested, should be grubbed out or destroyed 
with hot brine or caustic soda. Where too abundant to make such 
treatment practicable, close, persistent cutting, in order to starve 
the roots and prevent all seed development, will finally suppress 
the weed. 

SUN SPURGE 

Euphorbia Helioscopia, L. 

Other English names : Wartgrass, Wartweed, Sunweed, 
Little-good, Cat's Milk, Wolf's Milk, Mouse-Milk. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to October. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: Eastern Quebec to Ontario, southward to 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois. 

Habitat : Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 



Fig. 189.— 
Sun Spurge 
(Euphorbia He- 
lioscopia). X i. 



An immigrant from Europe, abundant in its 
range, which is gradually extending. Its milky juice 
is exceedingly copious, and so acrid that it is used 
as a caustic to destroy warts. (Fig. 189.) 

Stem stout, smooth, eight to fifteen inches tall, 
often branched from the base. Leaves obovate, 
rounded at tips, finely toothed, whorled and sessile 
at the base of the umbel, but those on the stalk 
scattering and tapered to a short petiole. Umbel 
compound, the rays usually five, first triply 
branching and then each branch forked; in- 
volucres bell-shaped, with unappendaged, round, 
stalked glands. Capsule smooth, with rounded 
lobes ; seeds ovoid, reddish brown, the surface 
netted and pitted like a honeycomb. 

Means of control the same as for Spotted Spurge. 



CYPRESS SPURGE 

Euphorbia Cyparissias, L. 

Other English name : _ Quack Salver's Grass. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 



ANACARDIACEAE {CASHEW FAMILY) 



273 



Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: Eastern part of the United States. 

Habitat : Fields, roadsides, waste places ; frequent in cemeteries. 



An escape from flower gardens and cemeteries, where it should 
never be given a place, for it is as pervading and uncontrollable as 
Toad-flax. Its tough, horizontal, creeping rootstocks cause it to 
grow in dense patches, choking out all other growth. In pastures 
it is said to be very injurious to grazing cattle, but the writer's 
observation has been that cattle avoid it. 

Stems thickly clustered, six inches to a foot 
in height, erect, scaly at base, very leafy above, 
with few branches. Leaves linear, deep green, 
smooth, those subtending the umbels whorled, 
those on the stalks alternate, crowded, and ses- 
sile. Rays of the umbel very numerous, the 
flowers subtended by greenish yellow, heart- 
shaped bracts ; involucres top-shaped, bearing 
four crescent-shaped glands without appendages. 
Pods rounded and granular, with smooth, oblong, 
ash-gray seeds, caruncled at base. (Fig. 190.) 

Means of control 

Fig. 190. — Cy- 

Close cutting just at blooming time when the press Spurge {Eu- 

rootstocks are most depleted of their stored vhorhia Cypans- 

sicis) X ~ 
nutriment, using salt to retard recovery. Small " ^' 

areas are most quickly dealt with by grubbing out and destroying 

the rootstocks. 




POISON SUMAC 
Rhiis Vernix, L. 

Other English names : Swamp Sumac, Poison Dogwood, Poison Ash, 
Poison Elder, Thunderwood. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June. 

Seed-time: Fruit ripe in late summer but retained until winter. 

Range: New England and southern Ontario to Minnesota, south- 
ward to Florida and Louisiana. 

Habitat : Swamps. 



274 



ANACARDIACEAE {CASHEW FAMILY) 



"Berries white, dread the sight ; 
Berries red, have no dread," 

used to be repeated in distinguishing the harmless sumacs from their 
"dreaded" relative, which is a shrub six to twenty feet in height, 
and hardly to be called a weed, but included here since, because of 
its beautiful autumnal coloring, it is frequently brought from its 

home in the swamps for house 
decoration — usually to the ex- 
ceeding great bodily distress 
of the person who plucked it, 
for it is even more poisonous 
than its relative. Poison Ivy. 
(Fig. 191.) ^ 

Leaves pinnately compound, 
the leaflets seven to thirteen, 
obovate, smooth, thin, entire, 
green on both sides, the slen- 
der petiole slightly swollen at 
the base. Flowers in axillary 
clusters three to eight inches 
long, very small, greenish white, 
similar to those of Poison Ivy. 
Fruit a cluster of greenish white, 
waxy drupes, each with one 
hard, ridgy seed within, like 
Remedies for the effects of its poisonous touch are 




Fig. 191. 

Poison Ivy 
the same. 



Poison Sumac (Rhus Ver 
nix). X |. 



POISON IVY 

Rhus Toxicodendron, L. 
(Rhus radicans, L.) 

Other English names: Poison Oak, Poison Creeper, Three-leaved 

Ivy, Climath, Black Mercury, Markweed. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : Late May to July. 
Seed-time : Fruits attain full size in August but remain on the stem 

until late in winter. 
Range: Nova Scotia to British Columbia, southward to Florida, 

Arkansas, and Utah. 
Habitat: Roadsides and waste places, fence rows, and borders of 

woods. 



ANACARDIACEAE {CASHEW FAMILY) 



275 



A very poisonous plant, far too common everywhere, for to many 
persons the touch of it brings disaster, blotching the skin wath burn- 
ing " water-blisters " and causing the flesh beneath to swell hideously 
and throb with a pain so intense as to be alarming. Fortunately 
such an attack leaves no scars and the general health is not injured. 
Chemical analysis has shown that the poison is a nonvolatile oil, 
found in all parts of the plant, even the seasoned wood, but espe- 
cially in the growing leaves. It is insoluble in water, therefore wash- 
ing the skin after contact merely serves 
to spread the trouble; but alcohol will 
at once dissolve and remove it, and, 
if applied soon enough, will prove the 
prevention that is better than cure. 
If too late for that, a little powdered 
sugar of lead, dissolved in alcohol, 
will check the eruption and soothe the 
pain. This remedy is also a poison, 
and care must be taken to keep it 
out of eyes and mouth, and of course 
it should not be used if the vesicles 
have broken; in such case dilute ex- 
tract of Grindelia will check their 
spread and soothe the smart. 

The plant is sometimes an erect and 
bushy shrub, sometimes prostrate and 
trailing, sometimes a long, woody vine, 
climbing tall trees by means of aerial 
rootlets. Leaves compound, vAih. three 

leaflets, ovate to rhombic, pointed, usually entire but sometimes 
scalloped or irregularly few^-toothed, the two lateral ones sessile or 
on very short stalks, the terminal one longer. In form they are 
somewhat like the leaflets of the Virginia Creeper, or Woodbine 
(Psedera quinque folia) , but it should be remembered that those are 
five in number like the fingers of the hand, and can be safely handled; 
but "Leaflets three, let it be." Flowers in loose, axillary panicles, 
small, greenish white, with five-parted calyx, five petals, five sta- 
mens and one-celled ovary. Fruit also greenish white, smooth, 
and waxy, dangling in clusters of about the size of small currants, 




Fig. 192. — Poison Ivy (Rhus 
Toxicodendron) . X i. 



276 MALVACEAU (MALLOW FAMILY) 

each containing one hard seed. Crows and other birds eat the 
fruits, apparently without harm, and void them along fences and 
telephone routes. The pest is increasing throughout the country, 
for most people are so afraid of it that it is left unmolested to 
multiply its kind. (Fig. 192.) 

Means of control 

Some fortunate persons are quite immune to the bad effects of 
the plant, and one of these might be hired to grub it out and burn 
it, taking care that no one inhales the intensely irritant smoke or 
gets it in the eyes. Or a few drops of sulfuric acid (handle with 
care), applied every few days to the woody stem near the roots, 
will kill the plant ; or hot brine or caustic soda will destroy it. 

INDIAN MALLOW 

Ahutilon Theophrdsti, Medic. 
(Abiitilon Avicennoc, Gaertn.) 

Other English names: Velvet Leaf, American Jute, Butter Print. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Maine to South Dakota, southward to Florida and Texas. 

Also on the Pacific Slope. 
Habitat : Rich soil ; cultivated ground, farm yards, waste places. 

Once established and allowed to mature fruit, this is a most 
persistent weed, for the seed has been known to survive in the soil 
for more than fifty years. The inner bark of the plant yields a fine, 
strong fiber which may be made into twine, rope, or paper, whence 
the name of American Jute ; but this is a misnomer, for the plant 
is a native of Asia, where it is cultivated for its fiber. (Fig. 193.) 

Stem stout, erect, round, softly hairy, three to six feet in height, 
and branching widely. Leaves alternate, pointed-heart-shaped, 
three inches to nearly a foot broad, velvety above and below with 
a dense coat of exceedingly fine, soft hair ; petioles slender and 
nearly as long as the blades. Flowers solitary in the axils, each 
about a half-inch broad, with five yellow * petals and a velvety 
green, five-lobed calyx, many stamens, united in a ring around 



MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY) 



277 



the several pistils which are also 
united at the base, but distinct 
above, projecting beyond the sta- 
mens. The compound seed-vessel 
is much larger than the flower, being 
about an inch broad, composed of a 
ring of twelve to fifteen awn-tipped 
carpels, splitting at the top when 
ripe and each containing three to 
nine seeds, which are rounded kidney- 
shaped, gra^dsh brown, slightly rough, 
about one-eighth of an inch long. 
These seeds are shaken from the 
carpels by winter winds and blown 
for long distances over crusted snow. 

Means of control 

Cut or pull the plants while in 
early bloom. Seedlings that bloom 
late, even after corn is harvested, Fig 
may produce enough seed to foul the 
ground ; plants bearing unripe seed-vessels should be burned, as 
they will ripen on the stalks. 




193. — Indian Mallow 
(Abutilon Theophrasti) . X i. 



RED FALSE MALLOW 

Malvdstrum coccineum, Gray 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to August. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Manitoba to British Columbia, southward to Texas and 

New Mexico. 
Habitat: Dry prairies, hillsides; wild pastures. 

The Greek name of this weed means Star-mallow, and the whole 
plant is silvery gray with stiff, star-shaped hairs, which are said to 
have a bad effect on the digestive tracts of grazing cattle and 
horses, though sheep seem to take no harm and appear to be very 
fond of the plant. In some localities it has been suspected of being 



278 



MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY) 



poisonous, but Pammel ^ states that " there is no evidence to sup- 
port this view." (Fig. 194.) 

Stems two to ten inches in height, growing in tufts from a peren- 
nial deep-boring taproot. Alternate leaves but 
one or two inches long, rounded oval in outline 
but deeply three- to five-lobed and the seg- 
ments again incised; lower leaves with slender 
petioles but those above nearly sessile. Flowers 
in crowded terminal racemes on each of the 
numerous stalks, brick red in color, each blos- 
som a half -inch or more across, the five petals 
often slightly notched at the tips and longer 
than the pointed calyx-lobes ; styles five or 
more, surrounded by the ring of many united 
stamens. Carpels, ten to fifteen, rough, net- 
veined, and usually but one-seeded. 




Mecms of control 

Infested pastures should be broken up and 
reseeded to better forage. Until this is done 
such weeds can be guarded against only by 
herding away from them the animals for which 
they seem to be unwholesome. 



Fig. 194. — Red 
False Mallow {Mal- 
vastrum coccineum) . 
X*. 



PRICKLY SIDA 

Sida spinosa, L. 

Other English names: Thistle Mallow, Spiny Sida. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: Late May to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Maine to Michigan, Iowa, and Kansas, southward to 

Florida and Texas. 
Habitat : Dry clay soils ; fields, gardens, pastures, and waste 

places. 

An emigrant from tropical America, which is gradually gaining 
ground to the north and the west. Stems eight to twenty inches 



^ Manual of Poisonous Plants. 



MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY) 



279 



high, erect, much branched, downy-hairy. 
Leaves alternate, one to two inches long, 
ovate to lance-shaped, scallop-toothed, 
downy-hairy, with base rounded or abruptly 
narrowed to petioles about half as long as 
the blades ; at the base of some of the 
larger leaves is a small, pointed tubercle, 
which gives the plant its name though it is 
hardly long enough or sharp enough to be 
called a spine. Flowers light yellow, only 
about a quarter-inch broad, on short axillary 
peduncles ; calyx with five teeth, shorter than 
the obovoid petals ; styles five with undi- 
vided stigmas, surrounded by united sta- 
mens. Fruit ovoid, containing five carpels, 
each splitting at the top into two beaks. 
Seeds triangular, smooth, dark brown. 
(Fig. 195.) 

Mea7is of control 

Deep hoe-cutting while in early bloom. 
Mowing the plants leaves stubs, which hasten 
to produce new stalks and require atten- Fig^.195.- Prickly Sid. 
tion a second time ; but deep cuttmg kills. 




PAROQUET BUR 

(Sida, acuta, Burm.) 
{Slda stipulata, Cav.) 

Native. Annual or perennial. Propagates by seed. 

Time of hloom : June to November. 

Seed-time: July to December. 

Range: The Gulf States from Florida westward. 

Habitat : Cultivated crops, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 

Sheep are grown in the South more for mutton than for fleece, 
but the value of the latter is annually damaged to a large amount 
by the hooked carpels of this weed, the distribution of which is 
almost entirely due to animal transportation. 



280 



MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY) 



Stem erect, smooth or nearly so, and 
one to three feet talL Leaves one to 
four inches in length, oblong to lance- 
shape, irregularly toothed, and narrowed 
quite abruptly to the slender petioles, 
which are about half as long as the 
blades ; stipules conspicuous, narrowly 
lance-shape to linear, and longer than 
the petioles. Flowers axillary, growing 
singly or in small clusters, yellow, about 
an inch broad, with five unequal petals 
and a strongly ridged, five-lobed calyx. 
Carpels several to ten, arranged about a 
central axis, netted and wrinkled and 
with two incurving beaks at the top. 
(Fig. 196.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development. In culti- 
vated ground tillage should be continued 
Fig. 19G. — Paroquet Bur longer than usual, in order to hinder the 
{Sida acuta), xh maturing of a late crop of seeds. In 

other places the weed should be frequently and closely cut 
throughout the growing season. 




COMMON MALLOW 

Mdlva rotundifolia, L. 

Other English names: Dwarf Mallow, Running Mallow, Round 

Dock, Cheeses, Shirt-button Plant, Maul. 
Introduced. Biennial or perennial. Propagated by seeds. 
Time of hloom : May to October. 
Seed-time: June to November. 

Range: Throughout North America except the extreme North. 
Habitat: Cultivated ground; waste places. 

The deep, branching roots of this plant seem to spread nearly 
as far beneath the soil as its creeping stems spread above it ; the 
latter are six inches to nearlv two feet long, round, smooth, branched 



MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY) 



281 



at the base. Leaves rounded or kidney-shaped, on long, slender 
petioles, heart-shaped at base, five- to nine-ribbed and -lobed, 
scallop-toothed, with edges often 
crisped. Flowers pale pink, 
veined with deeper pink, clus- 
tered or single in the axils ; calyx- 
lobes five, hairy, ovate, pointed, 
about half the length of the 
petals, which are notched at the 
outer edge; styles many, stig- 
matic down the inner side, longer 
than the stamens which are 
united in a column, the anthers 
at the summit, the pollen grains 
very large and white — like pearls 
when seen through a lens. Car- 
pels as many as styles arranged 
in a circle, one-seeded; when 
green they are mucilaginous and 
children like to eat. (Fig. 197.) 




Fig. 197 



— Common Mallow (Malva 
rotundifolia) . X \. 



sweet — the " cheeses " that 



Means of control 

Hand-pulling or deep hoe-cutting before the development of seed. 



MUSK MALLOW 

Mdlva moschdta, L. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-tune: July to September. 

Range: Eastern Canada, New England, and Middle States. 

Habitat: Meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 

A very handsome plant, an escape from gardens, objectionable 
in meadows and pastures, for cattle dislike its musky odor and 
hard, woody stalks and usually leave it to reproduce itself. Stems 
one to two feet high, slender, clothed with soft hair or sometimes 
smooth. Base-leaves rounded, with five to nine shallow, scallop- 
toothed lobes, slender-petioled ; stem-leaves deeply five-parted, the 



282 



MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY) 



segments again deeply cut or pinnatifid, very short-petioled. 
Flowers clustered at the ends of stem and branches and in the 
upper axils, often nearly two inches broad, pale rose-color or white, 
pink-veined, the central column of many styles and anthers nearly 
a half-inch in height ; calyx with five short, triangular-ovate, very 
hairy lobes. Carpels fifteen to twenty, arranged in a circle, also 
densely hairy. 

Means of control 

Close cutting before the development of any seeds, repeating 
the treatment as the plants send up new shoots from the roots. 



BLADDER KETMIA 

Hibiscus Trionum, L. 

Other English names: Flower-of-an-hour, Goodnight-at-noon, 

Shoofly Plant, Venice Mallow. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range : Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south- 
ward to Florida. 
Habitat: Cultivated ground, roadsides, 
waste places. 



At one time this weed was much helped 
in its wide distribution by seedsmen who 
recommended it as an ornamental plant. 
But for that purpose its beauty is too 
evanescent, and in grain field and garden 
it has proved itself extremely obnoxious 
because of the long vitality of its seeds ; 
ground once fouled continues to produce 
plants for years, as cultivation brings the 
dormant seeds to surface light and 
warmth. (Fig. 198.) 

Stems ten to twenty inches long, 
branched from the base, slender, rather 
weak and often reclining, covered with 
fine, bristly hairs. Leaves broadly heart- 




FiG. 198. — Bladder Ket- 
mia (Hibiscus Trionum) . 
Xh 



MALVACEAE (MALLOW FAMILY) 283 

shaped in outline but deeply three-lobed, the middle lobe 
much the longest, the segments again cut and toothed. 
Flowers usually single in the upper axils, about two inches 
broad, pale sulfur-yellow with a purple center and fine purple vein- 
ing, the five broad petals often tinged with purple on the outer 
edge; they open only in sunshine and are usually closed before 
noon; calyx a thin, hairy, five-angled, membranous, and much 
inflated green "bladder," also delicately purple- veined ; ovary five- 
celled, the cells usually three-seeded, the styles stigmatic at the 
summit, the column of stamens long, truncate at the top and 
bearing anthers below for much of its length. Involucral bracts 
linear, very hairy. Seeds triangular kidney-shaped, brown, 
roughened with pimples of lighter shade. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by hand pulling or hoe-cutting w^hile in 
first bloom. Ground where seeds have matured should be put to a 
well-tilled hoed crop. 

OKRA OR GUMBO 

Hibiscus esculentus, L. 

Introduced. Annual or perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: September until cut off by frost. 

Range : Southeastern and Gulf States. An escape from cultivation. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

Okra was brought from Africa in the old slave-trading days. 
It is cultivated in the South for its mucilaginous green pods, which 
are used for thickening soups, ketchups, and stews, or cooked whole 
as a table vegetable ; also its ripe seeds are often roasted and used 
as a substitute for coffee. Although treated as an annual, the 
plant mil live for years if not killed by frost, and therefore it is 
rather a bad weed when out of bounds. 

Stem eighteen inches to three feet high, rather stout, with few 
branches. Leaves somewhat thick in texture, rounded in outline 
but five- to seven-lobed, the segments cut about halfway to the 
base, coarsely toothed, and with petioles about as long as the leaves. 



284 



HYPERICACEAE {ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY) 



The whole plant is softly hairy. Flowers two inches or more broad, 
cream-yellow, with a purplish brown spot at the base of each of the 
five petals. Fully ripened pods are two to four inches long, nearly 
three-quarters of an inch thick at base, tapering to a point, and 
ten-ribbed. The ribs soon become strongly fibrous, and when the 
fruit is wanted for food, the pods must be picked when about two 
days old. Seeds dark brown, nearly globular, with a white eye on 
one side ; they retain their vitality for about five years. 

Means of control 

Small patches may be hand-pulled or grub])ed out. More 
extensive areas require to be put under cultivation, in order to 
destroy the perennial roots, and stir dormant seeds into germination. 




Fig. 199. — Common 
St. John's-wort {Hyperi- 
cum perforatum). X I- 



COMMON ST. JOHN'S-WORT 

Hypericum perforatum, L. 

Other English names: Herb of St. John, 

Speckled John. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by 

seeds and by runners from the base of the 

stem. 
Time of bloom : June to September. 
Seed-time: July to October. 
Range : Throughout British America except 

in the far North, and in all the states 

except the most southern. 
Habitat : Fields, pastures, and waste places. 

A most pernicious weed, difficult of sup- 
pression. When young its juices are so 
acrid and blistering that no grazing animal 
will eat the plant ; and when mature or 
dried in hay, stock reject it because of its 
woody toughness. (Fig. 199.) 

Stem ten to thirty inches tall, erect, 
slender, much branched, rather stiff, bear- 
ing along the sides two opposing ridges 
which make it two-edged. Leaves op- 
posite, oblong to elliptic, one-half inch to 



HYPERICAGEAE (ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY) 285 

an inch long, light green, sessile, more or less black-dotted and 
specked all over with pellucid dots. Flowers in terminal cymose 
clusters, very showy ; petals five, golden yellow, nearly a half- 
inch long, with black-dotted margins; stamens many, separated 
into three groups, their anthers black-dotted ; styles three, di- 
vergent ; calyx of five lance-shaped, acute sepals, specked with 
pellucid dots. Capsule ovoid, three-celled, filled with small, 
rounded, oblong seeds, their surface delicately pitted in rows. 
Too often an impurity among grass seeds. 

Means of control , 

The plant is best destro^^ed by hand-pulling when the soil is 
sufficiently soft to slacken its hold on the long, woody roots. Or 
it may be grubbed out, care being taken to leave no stray runners. 
A meadow or a pasture too rankly infested to be so cleansed should 
be turned under and put to a well-tilled hoed crop. 



SHRUBBY ST. JOHN'S-WORT 

Hypericum prolificum, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: New Jersey to Southern Ontario and Minnesota, south- 
ward to Georgia and Arkansas. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; sandy fields, rocky upland pastures, waste 
places. 

A very beautiful and ornamental plant, provided it might be 
restricted to a corner of a flower garden. Stems one to four feet 
tall, strong and woody, branching near the base, the branches 
ascending, the branchlets with side-ridges making them two-edged. 
Leaves tw^o to three inches in length, pellucid dotted, narrowly 
oblong, obtuse, tapering toward the base, the lower ones with 
short petioles, those near the top sessile ; in the axils are usually 
tufts of smaller leaves. Flowers bright yellow, each nearly an 
inch broad, in terminal and axillary clusters, very numerous ; 
sepals unequal, shorter than the petals ; stamens very numerous. 



286 



HYPERICACEAE {ST. JOHN'S-WORT FAMILY) 




Fig. 200. — Shrubby 
St. John's-wort (Hyperi- 
cum prolificum). X I- 



not separated into clusters ; styles three. 
Capsule long ovoid or conic, three-celled, 
many-seeded. (Fig. 200.) 

Means of control 

The smaller plants may be hand-pulled 
when the ground is soft, but many of the 
plants require strenuous work with the 
grubbing hoe. The St. John's-worts are 
considered indicatiA e of exhausted soil, and 
after their removal the ground should be 
put under cultivation and well fertilized. 

DWARF ST. JOHN'S-WORT 

Hypericum mutilum, L. 

Native. Annual or perennial. Propagates 
by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Manitoba, south- 
ward to Florida and Texas. 



Habitat: Damp meadows, pastures, and waste places. 



Stem six to eighteen inches long, rather weak and flaccid, de- 
cumbent, branching from the base, four-angled, often reddish. 
Leaves a quarter-inch to an inch long, narrowly ovate to oblong, 
obtuse, entire, partly clasping, five-nerved, minutely specked with 
the pellucid dots. Flowers in terminal cymose clusters, each about 
a quarter-inch broad, bright yellow or light orange, the pedicels 
subtended by awl -like bracts. Capsules pointed ovoid, about a 
sixth of an inch long, filled with seed of dust-like smallness. The 
plants often turn reddish in autumn and their presence is then 
noted where they had not been suspected. 

Means of control 

Cultivate and heavily fertilize the ground ; the presence of this 
plant is considered by many farmers to be an indication that the 
soil lacks lime. Follow the cultivated crop with clover. 



PASSIFLORACEAE {PASSION FLOWER FAMILY) 



287 



PASSION-FLOWER 

Passiflora incarndta, L. 

Other English names: Passion-vine, May-pop. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to August. 

Seed-time :^ July to October.^ 

Range: Virginia to Missouri, southward to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; troublesome in cultivated crops ; waste places. 



A handsome climbing vine, with curious and beautiful flowers and 
edible fruits. Stem smooth, or sometimes finely hairy at the 
growing tips and twigs, ten to 
thirty feet in length, the lower 
and older part becoming some- 
what angled and ridged, climbing 
by means of long, coiling, axillary 
tendrils. Leaves alternate, three 
to five inches broad, usually 
smooth, heart-shaped at base 
and deeply three-lobed, the lobes 
pointed and sharply toothed, the 
slender petiole bearing two glands 
near the base of the blade. 
Flowers solitary, axillary, about 
two inches broad, showy, lifted on 
jointed pedicels longer than the 
leaf-stalks, and bearing three leaf- 
like involucral bracts just below 
the flower ; sepals five, united 
at base; five large white petals 
inserted on the throat of the 
calyx and crowned with triple 
rows of long fringes which are 
pale purple with a lighter band 
near the center ; the one-celled 
ovary is lifted on a stipe, or foot-stalk, subtended by the 
five stamens and bears at its top three club-shaped stigmas. 
Fruit ovoid, about two inches long, smooth, yellow, pulpy, the 




Fig. 201. — Passion-flower (Passi- 
flora incarnata). X \- 



288 CACTACEAE {CACTUS FAMILY) 

many seeds borne on its inner wall surface in three groups. 
(Fig. 201.) 

Means of control 

Very thorough tillage of cultivated crops, destroying as much 
as possible of the perennial roots ; alternate such cultivation with 
heavy seeding to cowpeas or clover. 

PRICKLY PEAR 

Opuntia Rafinesquii, Engelm. 
{Opuntia humifusa, Raf.) 

Other English names: Indian Fig, Old Man's Hands. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by the rooting of 

broken joints. 
Time of bloom: June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range: Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota, southward to Kentucky, 

Missouri, and Texas. 
Habitat: Dry soil; rocky hills and pastures. 

In the arid lands of the Southwest, Prickly Pear is hardly to be 
considered a weed, for there it is singed of its spines and furnishes 
an emergency food for stock during the season of drought when other 
forage is unavailable. But cattle prefer grasses to cactus and in 
ground where the better forage can be made to grow the cactus 
should be suppressed. If, under stress of hunger, the plant is 
eaten by stock without the removal of the spines, they often pene- 
trate or lacerate the intestines, or sometimes form interlaced prickly 
masses or phytobezoars which close the passage and cause death. 
(Fig. 202.) 

This is a variable species, but is usually prostrate and spread- 
ing, its roots often tuberous, and all joints are capable of rooting 
at the lower margins, forming new plants. Joints usually about 
two to six inches long and two to four inches wide, sometimes 
twice as large, deep green, thick, fleshy, obovate to rounded, bear- 
ing when young a few awl-shaped leaves that soon fall away ; in 
the axil of each leaf is a small rounded elevation, usually some- 
what woolly, bearing a cluster of reddish brown bristles and a 



CACTACEAE (CACTUS FAMILY) 



289 



few spines or a single strong one, sometimes none. Flowers yellow, 
sometimes with a reddish center, nearly three inches broad, the 
many petals slightly united at base, the stamens very numerous, 
the style with two- to seven-parted stigma; ovary inferior or 
below the flower and one-celled. Fruit a 
thick club-shape, nearly two inches long, not 
spiny, with a fleshy purplish pulp, edible, 
with an insipid or slightly acid taste. 



Means of control 

Prickly Pear may be killed by burning, as 
stockmen of the arid lands discovered when 
removing the spines for the benefit of their 
cattle, especially if the work is done with 
a gasoline torch applied to the growing 
plants. On land capable of supporting 
better growths cultivation and liberal fer- 




Fig. 202. — Prickly 



tilization of the ground should be^ the ^;;^/)^^x''f ^''''^'" 
method used for suppression of the prickly 

pest, reseeding heavily with some of the most drought-resistant 
grasses and clovers. 

BRITTLE PRICKLY PEAR 

Opuntia frdgilis, Haw. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by the rooting of 
broken joints. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Minnesota to British Columbia, southward to Utah, Colo- 
rado, and Kansas. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; prairies, rocky foothills. 

Plants rather small, partly prostrate, the joints very numerous 
and breaking away so readily that they often attach themselves to 
animals by their many spines and are thus transported to new lo- 
calities. Joints small, only one or two inches long, roundly ovate 
or club-like, slightly flattened, the fruit-bearing ones rather more 
compressed. Leaves small, red, awl-like, soon falling away; the 
tiny protuberances in the axils white-woolly, bearing a cluster of 



290 



CACTACEAE {CACTUS FAMILY) 



short, grayish-white bristles, becoming stiff and straw-colored as 
the plants grow old, with usually about four stouter, yellowish- 
brown spines, a half-inch to an inch long. Flowers pale yellow, 
nearly two inches broad. Fruit ovate, inedible, prickly, becoming 
dry at maturity. Seed rather large and thick, with a corky margin. 
Means of control the same as for the preceding species. 

GLOBE CACTUS 

Mamillaria vivipara, Haw. 

Other English names: Ball Cactus, Purple Cactus. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Tune of blootn : June to July. 

Seed-time: Early in the following summer. 

Range : Manitoba to Alberta, southward to Kansas, Colorado, and 

Utah. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; prairies, rocky hillsides, pastures. 



When these small spiny plants occur in pasture land, they are 
most unpleasant weeds, occupying the place of forage too scanty at 
best. This species usually grows in tufts, forming 
large flat masses. Stems two to four inches in 
diameter, usually depressed globose, covered with 
fleshy, rather loose, slightly grooved, nearly cylindri- 
cal green tubercles, woolly at base, each bearing a 
central bundle of four to eight reddish brown spines, 
a half-inch or more long, erect or somewhat spread- 
ing, surrounded by fifteen to twenty smaller, radi- 
ating, grayish-white spines in a single row. Flowers 
solitary, growing from small cavities at the base of 
the tubercles, funnel-shaped, nearly two inches long 
and about as wide when fully open (which is only 
Fig. 203.— ^^r a few hours in bright sunlight) with fringed 
Ball or Globe sepals and narrow, lance-shaped petals, deep purple ; 
Cactus (Ma- stamens very numerous and style divided into thread- 
para), xh ^^^e, stigmatic branches ; ovary inferior, one-celled. 
Fruit a little more than a half-inch long, ovoid, 
pale green, juicy ; seed about a twelfth of an inch long, obovoid, 
slightly curved, light brown, the surface finely pitted. (Fig. 203.) 




LYTHRACEAE (LOOSESTRIFE FAMILY) 291 

Means of control 

Small areas may be removed by deep cutting from the roots with 
a stout hoe or spud, before the maturing of the fruit. Turning the 
sod with a plow at once destroys the plants. 

MISSOURI CACTUS 

Mamilldria missouriensis, Sweet 

Other English names: Nipple Cactus, Bird's-nest Cactus. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Tirne of hloom : May to June. 

Seed-time: The following spring. 

Range: South Dakota to Kansas and Texas. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; prairies, rocky foothills. 

Like the preceding species, this plant is a nuisance in pastures. 
It is small, the stems often but one or two inches high, simple or 
sometimes clustered in patches, the tubercles on its surface less 
than a half-inch long, slightly grooved, rather loose, arranged in 
spiral rows. Spines ten to twenty, nearly a half -inch long, gray 
and bristly, radiating about a central, stouter, hairy spine, or the 
latter may be lacking. Flowers reddish yellow, nearly an inch long 
and of about the same width when fully expanded in bright sunlight, 
the petals acute and bristle-tipped. Fruit red, nearly globular, 
about the size of a pea. Seed black and finely pitted. 

Means of control the same as for Globe Cactus. 

CLAMMY CUPHEA 

Ciiphea petioldta, Koehne 
{Parsonia petioldta, Rusby) 

Other English names : Clammy Loosestrife, Blue Waxweed, Tarweed, 

Red-stem, Sticky-stem. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : July to October, 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: Rhode Island to Ontario, Illinois, and Kansas, southward 

to Georgia and Louisiana. Most common in the South. 
Habitat: Dry fields, meadows, pastures, roadsides, and waste land. 

An unpleasant, viscidly hairy, and homel}^ weed, much too com- 
mon in some localities. Cattle will not eat it and its deep-boring 



292 ONAGRACEAE {EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY) 

roots absorb a large amount of the food and moisture needed by 
better plants. 

Stem six to eighteen inches in height, round, red, branching, 
thickly set with sticky hairs to which small dead or dying insects 
are often seen adhering. Leaves opposite, long ovate, rough, entire, 
viscid, especially on midribs and veins, and tapering abruptly to 
short sticky-hairy petioles. Flowers on very short peduncles, 
not rising directly from the axils but from the side of the stem 
between the opposite leaf -stalks; they are less than a half-inch 
broad, bluish purple, with six very unequal petals, a tubular six- 
toothed, twelve-ribbed calyx, swollen at base on the upper side, 
and often ruddy-colored like the stem ; stamens eleven or some- 
times twelve; style slender with two-lobed stigma; ovary un- 
equally two-celled, with a curved gland at its base. The capsule 
bursts lengthwise and the seeds protrude from its side while still 
immature and attached to one side of the placenta; they ripen 
while exposed to the open air and then drop off into the soil, where 
they are said to retain their vitality for several years. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development by closely cutting or uprooting the 
plants while in their first bloom. 

SEED-BOX 

Ludvigia alternifolia, L. 

Other English name: Rattle-box. 

Native. Perennial, Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: New Hampshire to Ontario and Michigan, southward to 

Florida, Kansas, and Texas. 
Habitat: Swamps, low meadows, banks of streams, and ditches. 

Roots fascicled, spindle-shaped, rather thick and fleshy. Stems 
two to three feet tall, erect, round, smooth, with a strong bark and 
many branches. Leaves alternate, entire, with marginal veins, 
smooth or nearly so, pointed at both ends, two to four inches in 
length, sessile or with very short petioles. Flowers solitary in 



ONAGRACEAE {EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY) 



293 



the axils on very short peduncles; they are 
nearly an inch broad, with four light yellow, 
rounded petals, between which show the 
four-pointed, spreading, leaf-like lobes of the 
calyx, about as long. When plucked, the 
petals almost always fall away ; stamens four, 
inserted with the petals ; ovary four-celled. 
Capsules smooth, square, with winged angles 
and rounded base, about a quarter-inch 
high ; the seeds become loose and rattle about 
in them when the plant is shaken. These 
seed-vessels readily float on water and are 
often blown far on crusted snow. (Fig. 204.) 

Means of control 

Drainage of the ground, followed by a 
cultivated crop, very thoroughly tilled. Or 
starvation of the perennial roots by close 
and frequent cutting throughout the growing 
season. 

WATER PURSLANE 

Ludvigia palustris, Ell. 
(Isndrdia palustris, L.) 

Other English names: Ditch Purslane, Marsh Purslane, False 

Loosestrife. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rooting at 

the joints. 
Time of bloom: June to October. 
Seed-time: July to November. 
Range :^ Nova Scotia to Manitoba and Oregon, southward to 

Florida, Louisiana, California, and Mexico. 
Habitat : Swamps, wet meadows ; clogs ditches. 

A small, ^prostrate, often floating weed, whose habit of putting 
forth fibrous roots at its joints makes it frequently a pest to the 
muck farmer. 

Stems smooth, succulent, much branched at the base, often 
ruddy-colored, four to fifteen inches long. Leaves opposite, ovate 
or spatulate, a half-inch to an inch long, narrowing to a short, 




Fig. 204. — Seed- 
box {Ludvigia alterni- 
folia). X \. 



294 



ONAGRACEAE {EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY) 



slim petiole; when growing in mucky ground, they are smaller, 
nearly sessile, blunt-pointed, and reddish. Flowers axillary, sessile, 
solitary, scarcely a tenth of an inch broad ; they have a top-shaped 
calyx with four pointed triangular lobes, and sometimes four small 
reddish petals, though these are often wanting, particularly in 
floating plants ; stamens four and stigma four-parted ; ovary 
four-celled. Capsule four-sided and four-celled, flat at the top, 
containing many very fine, wrinkled, brown seeds. 

Means of control 

Only by digging or hand-pulling can this obnoxious little plant 
be removed, and the work needs to be done early, before the first 
development of seed. 

GREAT WILLOW-HERB 

Epilobium angustifblium, L. 
{Chamcenerion angustifblium, Scop.) 

Other English names: Fireweed, Spiked 

Willow-herb. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to August. 
Seed-time: August to September. 
Range: Labrador to Alaska, southward to 

North Carolina and Kansas, in the Rocky 

Mountains to Arizona, and on the Pacific 

Coast to California. 
Habitat : Low grounds and thickets ; land 

that has been newly cleared or burnt over. 

Stem two to six or more feet in height, 
somewhat woody, rather stout, erect, simple 
or branched from the base, usually reddish, 
smooth or sometimes finely hairy above. 
Leaves alternate, narrow lance-shaped, thin, 
entire or minutely toothed, pale beneath, 
with very short petioles and pinnate veins 
united in marginal loops. Flowers in large 
terminal racemes, purple, magenta, pink, or 
sometimes white, very showy; petals four, 
rounded and entire, with twice as many sta- 
mens and an elongated pink style with four- 




FiG. 205. — Great 
Willow-herb (Epilobium 
angustifolium) . X 4- 



ONAGRACEAE {EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY) 295 

parted white stigma ; ovary below the calyx-tube and four-celled. 
The plant is good bee pasture, generous of both pollen and nectar. 
Capsules two inches or more long, obscurely four-sided, reddish 
brown, velvety-hairy when young, many-seeded, opening at the 
summit. Seeds small and brown, tufted with white hair finer 
than thistle-down, by which they are widely wind-sown. (Fig. 205.) 

Means of control 

Close cutting or hand -pulling before the development of seeds; 
destruction of the perennial roots by cultivation of the ground. 

COMMON EVENING PRIMROSE 

(Enothera biennis, L. 
{Onagra biennis, Scop.) 

Other English names: Field Primrose, Tree Primrose, Fever Plant, 

Night Willow-herb. 
Native. Biemiial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: August to Novem.ber. 

Range: Labrador to Florida, westward to the Rocky Mountains. 
Habitat: Dry soil; fields, meadows, roadsides, waste places. 

The long, stout taproot of this plant is used in Germany as a 
table vegetable, like parsnips, and its young crown leaves are 
blanched and used for salad. It is also medicinally valuable. 
Collectors receive about five cents a pound for the plants pulled 
entire in mid-flowering time and dried in the shade. 

Stem two to six or more feet tall, rather stout, usually simple, 
more or less hairy. Root leaves lance-shaped, three to six inches 
long, the surface dark green, rough-hairy, slightly toothed, tapering 
to a petiole; stem leaves much smaller, alternate and sessile. 
Flowers in terminal leafy-bracted spikes, sessile, the calyx-tube 
sometimes two inches long, its four lobes reflexed and falling 
away; stamens eight, inserted on the top of the calyx- tube; 
style with deeply four-cleft stigma ; ovary below the long calyx- 
tube, itself much elongated and four-celled ; the four broad, sulfur- 
yellow petals are rolled in the bud, and at the falling of twilight 
their unfolding is so swiftly accomplished that one may "see her 



296 



ONAGRACEAE {EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY) 




Fig. 20 6. — Evening 
Primrose ((Enothera bien- 
nis). Xh 



doff her soft green hood and blossom — 
with a silken burst of sound." Sweet 
odors pour from the pale yellow cups and 
attract the night-flying moths, which fer- 
tilize the flowers, and in the morning 
sunlight the blossoms droop and wither. 
Capsules an inch or more long, four-celled, 
slightly hairy, splitting at the top into a 
slender, vase-like shape; they sway on 
the tall stalks all winter and birds de- 
stroy many of the seeds in their foraging. 
(Fig. 206.) 

Mea7is of control 

Cutting crown leaves from the roots 
with spud or hoe in the first season ; close 
cutting of flowering stalks while in early 
bloom ; plants with capsules formed 
should be cut and burned, as they ripen 
on the stalks. 



SUNDROPS 

(Enothera fruticosa, L. 
(Kneifia fruticosa, Raimann) 

Other English names: Day Primrose, Perennial Primrose. 

Native. Perennial. Propagated by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Georgia and 

Louisiana. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; fields, meadows, and waste places. 



Stems rather slender, one to three feet tall, usually branched, 
finely hairy or sometimes smooth. Leaves alternate, oblong to 
lance-shaped, with few and shallow teeth, somewhat hairy, the 
lower ones with petioles, those on the stem sessile, the upper ones 
nearly linear. Flowers in terminal, leafy-bracted spikes, the blos- 
soms sometimes nearly two inches broad, the petals notched at the 



ONAGRACEAE {EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY) 297 

outer edge, lustrous golden yellow, open in the daytime ; tube of 
the calyx much longer than the ovary, its lobes narrowly lance- 
shaped and spreading. Capsules about a half-inch long, four- 
angled, and having four small wings projecting from the top, the 
base often narrowed abruptly to a short foot-stalk. 

Means of control 

Starvation of the perennial roots by frequent, successive, close 
cuttings. In cultivated ground the plants are destroyed by the 
required tillage. 

BIENNIAL GAURA 

Gaura biennis, L. 

Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Quebec and Ontario to Minne- 
sota, southward to Georgia, Missis- 
sippi, Arkansas, and Nebraska. 

Habitat : Fields, meadows, pastures, road- 
sides, and waste lands. 

The winter rosettes and deep-boring 
taproot of this plant resemble those of 
the Evening Primrose, to which it is a 
near relative. Flowering-stalks, which 
appear in the second year, are two to 
five feet tall, erect, much branched, 
and covered with finely downy hairs, 
hard and woody when mature, and very 
troublesome to harvesting machinery. 
Leaves alternate, lance-shaped, pointed 
at both ends, sparsely toothed or wavy- 
edged, smooth above but finely hairy 
beneath, sessile, two to four inches long. 
Flowers sessile on slender terminal spikes, 
the succession of bloom beginning at the 
base of the spike with hairy buds above ; 

each blossom is nearly a half -inch across, fiq, 207. Biennial Gaura 

with four cream-white petals, turning {Gaura biennis), x |. 




298 ONAGRACEAE {EVENING PRIMROSE FAMILY) 

pink as they wither, four long-pointed, reflexed calyx-lobes, 
usually eight stamens, drooping like a tassel, and a long, declin- 
ing style with four-parted stigma ; ovary at the base of the 
long calyx-tube, one-celled. Fruits nut-like, four-ribbed, pointed 
at both ends, finely downy, and nearly a half-inch long. (Fig. 
207.) 

Means of control 

Leaf-tufts of autumn plants should be spudded off or destroyed 
by deep hoe-cutting. Plants that have survived to the second 
season should have flowering-stalks closely cut in their first bloom, 
the shorn surfaces being treated with salt in order to prevent stool- 
ing. If not allowed to mature seed the weed is readily suppressed. 



WOOLLY GAURA 

Gaura villosa, Torr. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Prairies, Kansas to Arkansas and Texas. 

Habitat: Cultivated crops, grain fields, meadows, pastures. 

A sturdy weed, with a stout, woody, branching stem, one to three 
feet tall, very objectionable in pasture or meadow, for cattle reject 
the plant either as green forage or as hay and it dulls and breaks 
the mow^ing-machine knives. The whole plant is covered with 
soft, fuzzy, grayish hairs. Leaves alternate and sessile, but vary 
in shape from lanceolate to sometimes nearly linear at the upper 
part of the plant, to wavy-toothed or even pinnatifid ones near the 
base. Flowers white or pinkish, nearly an inch across, the calyx 
very hairy, its tube funnel-shaped above the ovary, with linear, 
reflexed lobes ; the stamens are shorter than the petals, but the 
style is long, with four-parted stigma. The nut-like fruit is spar- 
ingly hairy or sometimes smooth, four-ribbed, tapering to both 
base and apex but narrowing most abruptly to the short, slender 
pedicel. 



UMBELLIFERAE {PARSLEY FAMILY) 



299 



Means of control 

Prevent reproduction and spreading by cutting the flowering 
stalks before any fruit has matured. In order to destroy the peren- 
nial roots it is necessary to put the land under cultivation. 



SANICLE OR BLACK SNAKEROOT 

Sanicula canadensis, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Massachusetts to Nebraska, southward to Florida and 

Texas. 
Habitat: Shrubby upland pastures, thickets, open woods. 



Sanicle is a shade lover and would 
hardly be included in this weed list 
were it not that its hooked and prickly 
carpels are so detrimental to the fleeces 
of sheep. The plant has bitter juices 
which protect it from their nibbling 
jaws and it is left to reproduce itself 
unharmed. 

Stem rather stout, eighteen inches 
to three feet tall, erect, round, grooved, 
smooth, with forking, leafy branches. 
Leaves palmately compound, three- to 
five-parted, the segments narrowly obo- 
vate to lance-shaped, smooth, sharply 
and irregularly toothed, often cut- 
lobed; those at the base have long 
petioles but the stem leaves become 
smaller and nearly sessile as they near 
the top; involucral leaves small and 
lance-shaped. Flowers greenish white, 
with perfect and staminate flowers in- 
termixed in small, compact, globular 
umbels, not much more than a half- 
inch broad. In this species the styles 




Fig. 208. — Sanicle (Sanicula 
canadensis). X j. 



300 UMBELLIFERAE {PARSLEY FAMILY) 

are shorter than the bristles on the carpels. These are in pairs, 
forming tiny, ovoid burs, bristHng with prickly hooks, there being 
several of the burs in a cluster, ready at a touch from woolen 
garments or a sheep's fleece to " catch on for a ride." (Fig. 208.) 

S. marilandica, differing in that the styles are much longer 
than the bristles and recurved, is equally common and has a more 
extensive range from Newfoundland to Georgia and westward to 
the Rocky Mountains. 

Means of control 

Prevent the formation of seed by close cutting or pulling when 

in first bloom. 

POISON HEMLOCK 

Conium maculdtum, L. 

Other English names: Deadly Hemlock, Spotted Cowbane, Spotted 
Parsley, Poison Stinkweed, Wode Whistle, Herb of St. Bennet. 

Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to July. 

Seed-ti7ne: August to September. 

Range: New England and Middle Atlantic States, westward to 
Michigan and Indiana, southward to Virginia. Also in Cali- 
fornia and Louisiana. 

Habitat : Moist soil ; waste places. 

V 

All parts of this plant are exceedingly poisonous. Every year 
domestic animals are killed by eating its young leaves in the spring, 
children have died from mistaking its seeds for fennel or caraway, 
and the close resemblance of its leaves to those of parsley some- 
times is the cause of fatal poisoning. This is said to be the herb 
which furnished the "Cup of death" given to Socrates in Ancient 
Athens. The plant is used in medicine for diseases of the nervous 
system, and to supply the demands of the drug trade about thirty 
thousand pounds of its seeds and fifteen to twenty thousand pounds 
of its dried leaves are annually imported, at a cost of about three 
cents a pound for the seeds and four cents for the leaves. Probably 
the home-grown product would be as readily purchased if properly 
cured. (Fig. 209.) 

According to the fertility of the soil, the height of the plant varies 
from two to five feet. Stem smooth, erect, much branched, hollow, 



UMBELLIFERAE {PARSLEY FAMILY) 



301 



often purple-spotted. Leaves 
pinnate and thrice divided, the 
segments finely cut and toothed. 
Flower clusters terminal, in 
large, open, compound umbels, 
composed of many small um- 
bellets of tiny white flowers, 
five-petaled, the large umbel 
and its parts subtended by 
small, narrow bracts. Fruit 
consisting of two dry, seed- 
like carpels, cohering by their 
inner face, grayish brown when 
ripe, about one-eighth of an 
inch long, ovoid, flattened at 
the side, prominently ribbed, 
and having on the flattened 
surface a deep, narrow groove. 
The whole plant has a very 
disagreeable "mousy" odor, 
especially when bruised. 




Fig. 209. — Poison Hemlock {Conium 
maculatum). X \. 



Means of control 

Grub it out, "root and branch," and destroy it. So dangerous 
a neighbor should never be allowed on any farm land, and in par- 
ticular the roads of the countryside should be free from its presence. 



WATER HEMLOCK 

Cicuta maculata, L. 

Other English names : Spotted Cowbane, Beaver Poison, Musquash 
Root, Muskrat Weed, Death-of-man, Children's Bane. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : NeMoundland to Manitoba, southward to Florida and New 
Mexico. 

Habitat: Low grounds; wet meadows, marshy places, sides of 
ditches, and ponds. 



302 



UMBELLIFERAE (PARSLEY FAMILY) 



Quite as poisonous as the preceding plant and probably the 
cause of more fatalities. Roots two to four inches long, thick, 
fleshy, tuberous, bunched in a cluster (fasciculated) at the swollen 
base of the stem. These are especially dangerous, for their taste 
is pleasantly aromatic, somewhat like that of its harmless relative, 
Sweet Cicely, for which they are sometimes mistaken, generally 
with fatal results ; or they may be mistaken for artichokes or 

parsnips in the early spring. 
At this season the roots are fre- 
quently forced out of the earth 
by washing or freezing, or cattle 
and sheep, biting at the young 
shoots, pull them easily from 
the wet soil. One of the fasci- 
cled roots will kill a cow, and a 
much smaller portion, when 
eaten by a person, is sufficient 
to bring a swift and distressful 
death, unless medical aid is im- 
mediately at hand. (Fig. 210.) 
Stems stout, smooth, hollow, 
two to six feet tall, streaked 
with brown and purple, the 
color more pronounced at the 
junction of stem and branches. 
Leaves pinnately twice or thrice 
(Cicuta divided, the segments lance- 
shaped, thin, sharply and rather 
coarsely toothed, the veins terminating in the notches instead of at 
the points. Umbels open and spreading, without involucres, the ped- 
icels in the umbellets unequal in length, giving the clusters an 
uneven appearance ; like all the Parsley Family, the flowers are 
very small, five-petaled with five stamens inserted on the disk 
that crowns the two-celled and two-seeded ovary. In this species 
the petals are white. Carpels about an eighth of an inch long, 
ovoid, smooth, each one striped on the convex side with five 
corky ribs and four brown oil-tubes and on the flat side with two 
wide corky stripes and two oil-tubes. 




Fig. 210. — Water Hemlock 
maculata). X |. 



UMBELLIFERAE {PARSLEY FAMILY) 303 

Means of control 

Grub out and destroy the plants, allowing no seeds to ripen and 
fall into the soil to perpetuate so deadly a menace to the safety of 
the children and the domestic animals of the neighborhood. Or 
the plant is easily pulled, roots and all, in the spring when the 
ground is soft and the young shoots first appear. 



FOOL'S PARSLEY 

Mthiisa Cyndpium, L. 

: False Parsley, Dog's Parsley, Dog Poison, 



Other English names 
Fool's Cicely. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds, 

Ti?ne of hloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Virginia, west- 
ward to the Mississippi River. 

Habitat: Fields and waste places. 



Fool's Parsley is acridly poisonous ; 
its Greek name means "to burn," which 
indicates the sort of agony that its 
victims feel. 

Root spindle-shaped like a radish, 
three to six inches long. Stem one to 
two feet tall, slender, smooth, branching 
by forking. Leaves very dark green, 
smooth, shining, twice or thrice ternately 
divided, the segments again finely cleft; 
they look very like those of the true 
Parsley, but, when crushed, have a dis- 
agreeable, fetid odor; the upper ones 
are nearly sessile, the short petioles 
much dilated at the base. Flowers 
white, unpleasantly scented, the large 
umbel without an involucre, but the 
umbellets having involucels of long, 
narrow, downward-turned bracts. The 
flowers of true parsley are yellow. 




Fig. 211. — Fool's Parsley 
(jEthusa Cynapium). X 4. 



304 



UMBELLIFERAE {PARSLEY FAMILY) 



United carpels ovoid, nearly as broad as long, each of the two 
having five sharply keeled ridges. These seeds may remain 
dormant in the soil for several years and should never be 
permitted to sow themselves. (Fig. 211.) 

Means of control 

If the infestation is new, hand-pull as soon as discovered and 
destroy it. Being annual, it is necessary only to prevent seed 
development in order to suppress the weed. 



MEADOW PARSNIP 

Thdspium aureum, Nutt. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to July. 

Seed-time: August to September. 
^b ^^ Range: New York to the Carolinas, westward 

1^^^ to Arkansas and Nebraska. 

iZ-^'^^ Habitat: Moist meadows, waste places, open 

woodlands. 



When it first appears in the spring, the 
young shoots of this plant sometimes give an 
unpleasant flavor to dairy products ; later the 
cattle reject it, though it seems to be not so 
noxious as other members of its tribe. 

Stems smooth, one to two feet high, with 
few branches. Base leaves heart-shaped, 
smooth, sharply toothed, long-petioled ; those 
of the stem three-parted — sometimes twice 
ternate — the lateral leaflets sessile or nearly 
so, the terminal one stalked, long ovate to 
lance-shaped, finely toothed. Flowers deep 
golden yellow, the compound umbel about two 
inches broad. Carpels small, ovoid or nearly 
globose, smooth, the ribs standing out like 
wings. (Fig. 212.) 

Ranging nearly with this plant is a close 
relative, the Hairy-jointed Meadow Parsnip 




Fig. 212.— Mead- 
ow Parsnip (Thas- 
pium aureum) . X i- 



UMBELLIFERAE {PARSLEY FAMILY) 305 

{Thdspium harhinode), also yellow-flowered, but larger, its ternately 
compound leaves broader and more coarsely toothed, and 
having tiny tufts of fine hair at each joint. 

Means of control 

Frequent close cutting before seed development, using dry salt 
in order to retard new growth. 



WILD PARSNIP 

Pastindca saliva, L. 

Other English names: Field Parsnip, Madnep, Tank. 

Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: All parts of the United States and Canada. 

Habitat: Roadsides and waste places. 

" Pastus" means food, and, as its name indicates, this is the 
garden Parsnip, long ago " gone to the bad," for its thick, white, 
fleshy root is no longer a food but a poison, even after it has been 
cooked — a fact which is every year demonstrated by several 
deaths. 

Crown leaves of the first year large, often eighteen inches in 
length, with long, flattened, and grooved petioles : pinnate, the 
segments thin, sessile, ovate, coarsely and sharply toothed, often 
cut-lobed. Fruiting stem two to four feet tall, hollow, grooved, 
smooth, its leaves much smaller and clasping. Umbel compound, 
without involucre or involucels, the flowers very many, small, and 
yellow. Carpels nearly one fourth of an inch long, broadly oval, 
much flattened, surrounded by a thin, corky ridge which helps 
them to float on water or to be carried by the wind. This weed, 
like the Wild Carrot, serves as host to the fungus which is so inju- 
rious to celery, and will infect that plant when it grows near it. 

Means of control 

Hand-pulling when the ground is soft in spring. Spudding or 
hoe-cutting the root leaves from their crowns, an operation best 



306 



UMBELLIFERAE {PARSLEY FAMILY) 



performed in late autumn or early spring. Plants that survive to 
send up flowering stalks should be cut while in bloom. 



COW PARSNIP 

Heracleu7n lanatum, Michx. 

Other English names: Woolly Parsnip, Masterwort. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to July. 

Seed-time: August to September. 

Range: Labrador to Alaska, southward to North Carolina, Mis- 
souri, Utah, and California. 

Habitat : Moist ground ; waste places, sides of ponds, ditches, and 
streams. 

One of the largest of 
umbellifers, w^ell named 
for Hercules, the giant. 
The huge, fleshy root 
sends up a stalk four to 
eight feet tall, sometimes 
two inches thick at base, 
deeply ridged and grooved, 
and wrapped in matted 
white hair. Leaves large, 
ternately compound, the 
segments broadly ovate, 
sharply toothed, and cut- 
lobed, stalked, som.ewhat 
thin for their size, densely 
covered on the under side 
with a network of white, 
woolly hair; petioles stout, 
much inflated, and clasp- 
ing at base. The whole 
plant has a disagreeable 
odor, especially when 
bruised, and the juice is 
extremely acrid; that of 
the root, when applied to 
the skin, will quickly draw 




Fig. 213. 



Cow Parsnip {Heracleum lana- 
tum). xl. 



UMBELLIFERAE {PARSLEY FAMILY) 307 

blisters. Flowers white, occasionally purplish, the flattened com- 
pound umbel sometimes a foot broad ; individual flowers often more 
than a quarter-inch broad, particularly the enlarged outer ones, with 
the five petals notched at the outer edge; involucre deciduous. 
Carpels obovate, nearly a half-inch long, flattened, with winged 
margin and notched apex, the oil-tubes extending only part way 
down the sides. The weed is dangerous to cattle, when growing 
about their drinking places, at the time of starting shoots in spring ; 
later they avoid it. (Fig. 213.) 

Means of control 

The plant is persistent because of its large root, which needs to 
be grubbed out or deeply cut and treated with dry salt or kerosene. 

WILD CARROT 

Dauciis Carota, L. 

Other English names: Queen Anne's Lace, Bird's Nest Weed, 

Devil's Plague. 
Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to September. 
Seed-time : August to December. 

Range: Throughout North America except the far North. 
Habitat: All soils ; meadows, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 

This plant is said to be the progenitor of the cultivated carrot, 
but its long, tapering root has none of the succulent sweetness 
which careful selection and cultivation has given to its descend- 
ants ; on the contrary, it is filled with woody fibers, acrid to taste 
and said to be poisonous. Only a crown of green leaves is pro- 
duced the first season ; these are twice or thrice pinnate, the 
segments lance-shaped and toothed, giving the plant a fine, feathery 
appearance; petioles long, slender, swollen at base, grooved on 
the upper side; the leaves are rough-hairy, have an unpleasant 
odor when bruised, and their acrid juices protect them from grazing 
animals. Flower-stalks appear the second year, one to three feet 
tall, erect, slender, branching, bristly with stiff hairs, bearing few, 
sessile, and clasping leaves ; flowers clustered, in large, flat, com- 
pound umbels, white, except that there is usually one in the center 



308 



ERICACEAE {HEATH FAMILY) 






of each umbel which is dark purple ; rays of the umbel crowded, 
the inner ones shorter than the outer rows, all subtended by a whorl 
of green, finely cut, involucral bracts. As the 
fruits mature the outer rows of pedicels bend 
inward, making the umbel concave and forming 
the "bird's nest." Carpels thickly set with 
weak spines along the secondary ribs, forming 
a small, oblong, gray-brown bur which is light 
in weight and may be carried far by the wind 
or drifted with snow; these seeds have long 
vitality and one seeding may pester the soil for 
several years. The plant is frequently infested 
by the leaf-spot fungus, Cercospora ajrii, which 
is very injurious to Celery. (Fig. 214.) 

Means of control 

Hoe-cutting or spudding the leaf -crowns from 
the roots during the first season, and closely 
cutting, or, better, hand-pulling, the flowering 
stalks of the second year. In grain fields 
the latter method is the only way to fight the 
weed effectively, for it is resistant to sprays that 
would not also destroy the accompanying crop. 
^J^^l ?}.'^'~^^^ I^ cultivated ground the plant gives little 
trouble, for there it may be uprooted with hoe 
or cultivator in its first season — a process 
which at once destroys it. 




Carrot (Daucus Ca 
rota) . X 



NARROW-LEAVED LAUREL 

Kdlmia angustifolia, L. 

Other English names: Dwarf Laurel, Sheep Laurel, Sheep Poison, 

Lambkill, Calfkill, Wicky. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom: June to July. 
Seed-time: Ripe in September, but often persistent on the shrub 

until winter. 
Range: From Newfoundland to Hudson Bay and southward to 

Georgia. 
Habitat: Hillsides, pastures, and bogs. 



ERICACEAE {HEATH FAMILY) 



309 



Much loss is credited to this poisonous little plant when flocks 
are turned out to pasture in the spring. It does most damage 
when small, for animals are most likely to eat it when the shoots 
are young and tender and but a few inches above the ground. 
Children also have been poisoned by mistaking its first little pinkish 
leaves for young wintergreens {Gaultheria procumbens). 

It is a shrub, six inches to nearly three feet tall, slender, with a 
few nearly erect branches and round, smooth twigs. Leaves ever- 
green, thick, smooth, entire-edged, pointed at 
both ends, dark green above, light green below, 
an inch to two inches long and a quarter-inch 
to a half -inch wide, with short petioles — about 
a third of an inch ; they grow in opposing pairs 
or in whorls of three. Flowers beautiful, clus- 
tered on the sides of the twigs at the base of 
the season's new growth; they are small, five- 
lobed, saucer-shaped, bright pink or crimson in 
color, a little more than a quarter-inch broad, 
with thread-like pedicels a half-inch to an inch 
long. Each small saucer has around its sides 
tiny pockets into which the ten red anthers are 
tucked, the filaments of the stamens being 
bent like a spring. When these are touched 
by the tongues of foraging insects — or with a 
needle — the anthers are released with a snap, 
flinging out the pollen. Capsule five-celled, 
globose, about an eighth of an inch in diameter, 
with the thread-like, persistent style thrust out from a deep 
dimple in its apex. Seeds very small, round, and slightly flattened. 
(Fig. 215.) 




Fig. 215. — Nar- 
row-leaved Laurel 
(Kalmia angusti- 
/olia). Xh 



Means of control 

Grub out or hand -pull the plants in the spring, when the soil is 
soft. Animals do not often eat the old shrubs, but those are the 
ones that bloom and fruit and bring on the dangerous young shoots. 
Cutting the plants causes them to sprout from the roots, unless 
prevented by the use of a strong herbicide such as caustic soda. 



310 



ERICACEAE {HEATH FAMILY) 



STAGGER-BUSH 

Lybnia maridna, D. Don. 
{Pieris maridna, B. and H.) 

Other English names: Maryland Andromeda, Calfkill, Sheepkill. 

Native. Perennial. Propagated by seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to June. 

Seed-time: August to September. 

Range: Rhode Island to Florida on. the Atlantic slope; also in 

Tennessee and Arkansas. 
Habitat : Low, moist soil ; wet meadows and pastures. 

Like the Sheep Laurel, this poisonous plant does most harm 
while very small ; for, though cattle and sheep sometimes browse, 

they prefer to graze, and it is 
usually the young, green shoots 
which spring up in damp, sandy 
pastures that are eaten by sheep 
and calves and cause them to 
stagger dizzily about, with slaver- 
ing mouths and labored breathing, 
until they fall and die. (Fig. 216.) 
Stems one to four feet tall, with 
slender branches held nearly up- 
right ; the bark of old wood is 
specked with black dots. Leaves 
alternate, oblong, smooth and 
glossy above but sparingly hairy 
on the heavy veins and the mid- 
rib below, the under surface black- 
dotted, two or three inches in 
length, pointed at both ends, with 
short petioles and entire edges, the 
margins slightly revolute; they 
cling to the twigs until very late in the season, but are not ever- 
green. The flowers grow on the leafless wood of the preceding 
year's growth and are clustered just above the scars of last year's 
leaves ; they are white or faintly rosy nodding bells, with bulging 
bases and slightly constricted throats, a little larger than lilies of 
the valley, which they somewhat resemble in form. The calyx is 




Fig. 



216. — Stagger-bush {Lyonia 
mariana). X \. 



PRIMULACEAE {PRIMROSE FAMILY) 311 

five-lobed and the bell-like corolla has five recurved teeth ; stamens 
ten, included ; style columnar and ovary five-celled. Capsule 
pointed-ovoid, five-angled, and five-celled, filled with many club- 
shaped seeds, none of which should be allowed to sow themselves 
and bring on the deadly young shoots. 

Measures for control the same as for Sheep Laurel. 

SCARLET PIMPERNEL 

Anagdllis arvensis, L. 

Other English names: Red Chickweed, Poison Chiekweed, Wink-a- 

peep, Shepherd's Clock, Poor Man's Weather Glass, Poisonweed 

(on the Pacific coast). 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to September. 
Seed-time: June to October. 
Range: Newfoundland to Vancouver Island and southward to 

Florida and Texas. Most abundant on the Pacific Coast and 

also in the Atlantic States. 
Habitat: Gardens, lawns, fields, meadows, pastures, waste places. 

Like the Chickweed, this plant has accompanied the European 
emigrant to every part of the world, its seeds mingled with those 
of better plants. Where abundant it is not only a troublesome 
weed, but also dangerous, for it is poisonous, all parts of it having 
"pronounced diuretic and narcotic properties," and it is said to 
be especially injurious to horses, sometimes fatally so. When 
growing in pastures cattle usually reject it and it is left to reproduce 
itself. 

Stems six to eighteen inches long, smooth, four-angled, weak, 
and slender, some prostrate and some ascending, branched and 
spreading. Leaves opposite or sometimes in whorls of three, or 
those near the top sometimes alternate, a quarter inch to a half- 
inch long, ovate, entire, sessile or slightly clasping, black-dotted 
on the under side. Flowers lifted on very slender, almost hair- 
like, axillary peduncles ; the calyx has five narrow, keeled, and 
pointed lobes, united at base and persistent; corolla usually 
bright scarlet but sometimes salmon-color, occasionally white, 
about a third of an inch broad, wheel -shaped, five-lobed, with 
each lobe minutely fringed at the tip with fine, glandular hairs; 



312 



APOCYNACEAE {DOGBANE FAMILY) 



the five stamens have hairy filaments. The 
flowers open only in the brightest sunshine, 
closing quickly if clouds obscure the light 
and usually by four o'clock in the afternoon 
even in good weather. Capsule membra- 
naceous and one-celled, nearly globular, 
smooth, many-seeded, opening by a circular 
line near the top which falls off like a lid ; 
the pedicels are recurved as they ripen and 
the small, dark, triangular, finely pitted 
seeds are emptied out. Seed matures 
within three weeks from the time of bloom 
and retains its vitality in the soil for at 
least two years. (Fig. 217.) 

Means of control 

In gardens and fields, early and persist- 
ent cultivation is necessary in order to pre- 
vent the weed from ripening and distribut- 
ing its seeds. Badly infested pastures and 
meadows should be put under cultivation; 

thick patches should be burned over for the purpose of destroying 

seeds on the surface before breaking, the ground. 




Fig. 217. — Scarlet 
Pimpernel {Anagallis ar- 
vensis). X 2- 



SPREADING DOGBANE 
Apocynum androscemifblium, L. 

Other English names: Wandering Milkweed, Milk Ipecac, Honey- 
bloom, Bitter-root. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and hy rootstocks. 

Time of hloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Anticosti to British Columbia, southward to Georgia, Ne- 
braska, and Arizona. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and thickets ; frequently troublesome in 
vineyards. 



A poisonous weed, but very graceful and attractive, growing 
usually in patches or colonies because of its extensive creeping, 



APOCYNACEAE {DOGBANE FAMILY) 



313 



horizontal rootstocks, from which new plants are sent up at short 
intervals. All parts of the plant, even the rootstocks, are filled 
with an acrid, milky juice. (Fig. 218.) 

Stems somewhat shrubby, one to three feet tall, smooth, very 
slender, branching at wide angles, reddish on the upper side where 
exposed to the sunlight, green beneath. Leaves opposite, ovate 
to oblong, entire, smooth and dark green above, somewhat hairy 
and paler beneath, acutely tipped, 
rounded or blunt-pointed at base, 
with short, often reddish petioles. 
Flowers in terminal and axillary 
cymose clusters, the corollas nod- 
ding, bell-shaped, with five re- 
curving lobes, pale pink, marked 
with lines of deeper pink, fragrant ; 
stamens five, inserted on the base 
of the corolla and alternating 
with five small triangular append- 
ages below the throat and opposite 
the lobes. Ovaries two, distinct 
and free from the calyx forming 
twin follicles, round, slender, four 
or more inches long, smooth, 
curved, stuffed with many thin, 
flat, brown seeds tipped with tufts 
of fine white floss, by which the wind is enabled to give them 
wide distribution. 




Fig. 218. — Spreading Dogbane 
(Apocynum androscemifolium). X \ 



Means of control 

When colonies of the weed appear near house grounds or barn 
yards, they should be killed at once by the use of strong, hot brine 
or caustic soda. In field, pasture, or fence row, the spud or the 
scythe should be frequently used, beginning with the first bloom 
and repeating as new shoots appear, dry salt being used for the 
purpose of checking new growth. Rankly infested ground is most 
easily cleansed by breaking it up, exposing the rootstocks during 
hot summer weather. 



314 



APOCYNACEAE {DOGBANE FAMILY) 



BLACK INDIAN HEMP 

Apocynum cannabinum, L. 

Other English names: American Hemp, Indian Physic, Choctaw 
Root, Bowman's Root, Amy Root, Dropsy Root, Rheumatism 
weed. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Anticosti to British Columbia, southward to Florida, Texas, 
and southern California. 

Habitat : Moist soil ; fields and thickets. 



Nearly related to the Spreading Dogbane, quite as obnoxious, 
but lacking its beauty. This plant is valuable medicinally, 

and the roots, gathered in autumn, 
cleaned, and dried, bring eight to ten 
cents a pound in the drug market; 
the inner bark yields a fine and very 
strong fiber, but no commercial use 
is made of it. 

Root deep, vertical, branching. 
Stems one to five feet tall, smooth, 
erect, with ascending branches. 
Leaves two to four inches in length, 
oblong, pointed at both ends or 
sometimes rounded at base, entire, 
pale green, smooth above, occasion- 
ally somewhat hairy beneath, those 
on the main stem having distinct 
petioles, those on the branches often 
nearly sessile. Flowers terminal 
(sometimes axillary) in rather dense 
cymes, held erect; calyx with five 
lobes, nearly as long as the tube of 
the very small, five-lobed, greenish 
white corolla. Pods in pairs, similar 
to those of the Spreading Dogbane. (Fig. 219.) 

Means of control the same as for the preceding species. 




Fig. 219. — Black Indian 
Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum). 
X i. 



ASCLEPIADACEAE {MILKWEED FAMILY) 



315 



BUTTERFLY WEED 

Asclepias tuber osa, L. 

Other English names: Orange Milkweed, Orange root, White Root, 

Pleurisy Root, Wind Root, Swallow-wort. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Ontario to Minnesota, southward to Florida, Texas, and 

Arizona. 
Habitat: Dry fields and pastures. 

The most showy of the Milkweeds. Where abundant, the plant 
may be made to pay for the cost of its suppression by the sale of 
its white, tuberous roots, which are 
valuable medicinally and bring six 
to ten cents a pound in the drug 
market; they should be collected in 
autumn, when well stored with sus- 
tenance for the winter. 

Stems several from the clustered, 
tubers, one to two feet high, erect, 
branched at the top, round, and 
very hairy; they lack the milky 
juice so characteristic of the family. 
Leaves alternate, oblong to lance- 
shaped, acute or sometimes obtuse 
at apex, entire, hairy on both sides, 
sessile or with very short petioles. 
Flowers in large flat-topped umbels 
terminating stem and branches, bril- 
liant orange in color; butterflies of 
many kinds are nearly always hover- 
ing about them ; the five lower seg- 
ments of the corolla are reflexed 

and the crown above it has five small, spreading hoods, each 
of which has within it a slender, incurving horn. Stamens five, 
inserted on the base of the corolla, the filaments forming a tube 
which incloses the pistil, the anthers adherent to the stigma ; 
ovaries two, with very short styles connected at the summit by 




Fig. 220. — Butterfly Weed 
(Asclepias tuberosa). X I- 



316 ASCLEPIADACEAE {MILKWEED FAMILY) 

the disk-like stigma. The fruits are twin folHcles, three to five 
inches long, gray-hairy, pointed at both ends, their pedicels so 
bent as to hold them nearly erect. Seeds flat, margined, brown, 
bearing a coma or tuft of long, silky hairs. (Fig. 220.) 

Means of control 

Persistently deprive the tuberous roots of green growth above 
ground and they will at length wither and die. Begin cutting 
before the first flowers mature, and repeat as often as new shoots 
put forth. Dry salt applied to the shorn surfaces will check new 
growth. 

SWAMP MILKWEED 

Asclepias incarndta, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time : Late August to October. 

Range: New Brunswick to the Northwest Territory, southward to 

Tennessee, Louisiana, and Kansas. 
Habitat: Wet ground; low meadows, swamps, and along ditches. 

In a report on "Fiber Investigations" made by the United 
States Department of Agriculture, it is stated that this plant 
yields a tough fiber, finer than that of hemp, soft, glossy, and 
possessed of great strength. Binder twine made of it stood a 
breaking test of ninety-five to a hundred and twenty-five pounds. 
It is a pity that the plant is not utilized so as to make valuable 
many a profitless swamp or marsh. Its hard, knotty roots are used 
in medicine, and are worth three or four cents a pound when col- 
lected in late autumn and carefully dried. 

Stems slender, two to five feet tall, round, smooth, often reddish, 
sometimes simple but usually branching above, leafy to the sum- 
mit. Leaves opposite, oblong-lance-shaped, smooth, long-pointed, 
usually obtuse at base, with rather short petioles. Flowers rosy 
purple, in flattened umbels, the pedicels finely hairy ; the hoods 
of the crown erect and slim, the pointed horns within being as 
sharp as needles and longer than the hoods. Follicles slender, 
pointed at both ends, and held erect. 



ASCLEPIADACEAE {MILKWEED FAMILY) 317 

Means of control 

Drainage of the ground is the first step toward the destruction 
of Swamp Milkweed, after which it needs to be kept closely cut 
throughout the growing season in order to starve the perennial 
roots. 

SHOWY MILKWEED 

Asclepias speciosa, Torr. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Minnesota to British Columbia, southward to Arkansas, 

Utah, and California. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; wet meadows and along streams. 

Plants of this species are sometimes smooth, but usually they 
are finely white-woolly all over, even to the flowers, of which the 
calyx is densely so. Stems simple, stout, one to two and a half 
feet tall. Leaves opposite, thick, broadly ovate to heart-shaped, 
grayish green, with large veins and short, stout petioles. Umbels 
many-flowered, the corollas greenish purple, the pedicels and the 
stout peduncle softly hairy. Follicles plump, three or four inches 
long, covered with soft, spinous processes, and also densely white- 
woolly, held erect or slightly spreading on recurved pedicels. 

Means of control 

Drainage of the ground. Uprooting with grubbing-hoe or plow, 
or such close and persistent cutting as to rob the perennial roots 
of all sustenance. 

COMMON MILKWEED 

Asclepias syriaca, L. 

Other English names: Silkweed, Cottonweed. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstoeks. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: August to_ October. 

Range: New Brunswick to the Northwest Territory, southward to 

Georgia, Missouri, and Kansas. 
Habitat: Fields, pastin'es, roadsides, and waste places. 



318 



ASCLEPIADACEAE {MILKWEED FAMILY) 



The horizontal creeping rootstock which makes this plant such 
a noxious weed is often six or eight feet long, wrinkled, cylindrical, 
white inside, with a grayish brown bark, warty with the scars of 
former stems. It is medicinally valuable, and, when collected in 
autumn, cleaned, transversely sliced and dried, is worth six to eight 
cents a pound in the drug market. Grazing cattle dislike the bitter. 



milky juice and the weed is a pest in pastures. 

crisp, succulent 



When young, the 



shoots make an 
excellent "dish of greens," cooked 
like asparagus. (Fig. 221.) 

Stem stout, two to five feet tall, 
softly downy when young but 
growing smooth with age, erect, 
and usually simple. Leaves ar- 
ranged in opposing pairs on alter- 
nate sides of the stalk, oblong to 
elliptic, smooth above, finely downy 
below, entire, the nerves extend- 
ing from the strong midrib uniting 
themselves by a bordering thread 
before reaching the margin ; peti- 
oles stout, very short. Umbels 
terminal and lateral, dense, the 
flowers dull purple to pinkish, 
fragrant. Follicles three or four 
inches long, downy, and covered 
with soft, spinous projections. 
Seeds very many, brown, flat, 
their tufts of fine silken hair long 
and thick. Should they fall on water, Milkweed seeds can float, as 
well as fly, for each has a corky margin which makes of it a raft. 




Fig. 221. — Common Milkweed 
(Asclepias syriaca). X h 



Means of control 

Cutting and many times cutting, throughout the growing season, 
depriving the rootstocks of all sustenance if possible. Plants 
should not be allowed to form fruit before cutting, for the pods 
ripen on the stalks. 



ASCLEPIADACEAE {MILKWEED FAMILY) 319 



CLIMBING MILKWEED 

Gonolohus laevis, Michx. 

{Am-pelanus dlhidus, Britton) 

(Enslenia dlbida, Nutt.) 

Other English names: Angle-pod, Sand Vine, White Swallow-wort. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Pennsjdvania to Kansas, southward to Florida and Texas. 
Habitat : Fence rows and thickets, waste places ; also troublesome 
in cultivated ground. 

Vines such as this furnish a good argument against too many 
fences, as it is practically impossible to clean out the weed with- 
out removing its support. Stems eight to twelve or more feet 
long, slender, twining, smooth or minutely hairy in lines, filled 
with milky juice. Leaves three to five inches long, opposite, thin, 
heart-shaped, long-pointed, smooth, entire, with long petioles. 
Flowers in axillary cymose clusters, very small, bell-shaped, five- 
lobed, cream-white, fragrant ; stamens five, the filaments united 
into a short tube ; stigma slightly two-lobed ; peduncles rather 
stout, not so long as the leaves, pedicels thread-like, longer than 
the flowers. Follicles three to five inches long, erect, smooth, 
wing-angled. Seeds flat, brown, tufted with silken hair. 

Means of control 

The weed is a persistent one and frequent and deep cutting is 
necessary in order to keep it in check, beginning when it is in early 
bloom and repeating as new shoots put forth. Dry salt or a few 
drops of carbolic acid will help in retarding new growth. 

BLACK SWALLOW-WORT 

Cyndnchum nigrum, Pers. 
(Vincetoxicum nigrum, Moench) 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Massachusetts to Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. 

Habitat: Old fields, fence rows, thickets, and waste places. 



320 



CONVOLVULACEAE {CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 



This plant, like the preceding one, is 
often called Climbing Milkweed ; the milky 
juices are poisonous. It is an immigrant 
from Europe, first planted in gardens for 
its beauty ; but the silken-winged seeds 
made an easy escape and now the weed is 
a frequent nuisance in ground not under 
cultivation. (Fig. 222.) 

Stems twining, slender, three to six feet 
long, slightly hairy, often brownish red 
where exposed to the light. Leaves op- 
posite, long-ovate, thin, dark green, smooth, 
entire, pointed at tip and rounded at base, 
with prominent, sometimes reddish, veins 
and short petioles. Flowers in axillary 
cymose clusters, small, saucer-shaped, the 
five spreading lobes somewhat twisted, 
hairy within, deep purple ; peduncles 
shorter than the leaves. Follicles about 
two inches long, pointed at both ends, 
smooth. Seeds flat, brown, tipped with 
silken floss. 

T. ooo T^i 1 o 1 Means of control the same as for the 

Fig. 222. — Black Swal- ,. . , . 

low-wort {Cynanchum ni- precedmg species. It IS more pernicious, 

grum). X h and requires persistent treatment. 




WILD SWEET POTATO VINE 

Ipomcea pandurdta, G. F. W. Mey. 

Other English names: Man-of-the-Earth, Meeha-Meck. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to September. 

Seed-time: Late June to October. 

Range: Eastern Canada and New England to Michigan and 

Kansas, southward to Florida and Texas. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; thickets and waste places. 



The very large fleshy roots of this plant are edible and sweet, 
and are buried very deep in the ground below the reach of frost ; 



CONVOLVULACEAE {CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 



321 



they are sometimes more than two feet long, and so thick as to 
attain a weight of over thirty pounds. Several stout, smooth 
stems spring from the same root, trailing or twining for a length 
of three to twelve feet. Leaves alternate, deep green, heart- 
shaped, long pointed, sometimes 
drawn in at the sides to a fiddle- 
shape, two to six inches long, 
with slender petioles often longer 
than the blades. Flowers like 
those of the morning glory, the 
corollas funnel-shaped, two to three 
inches long, white, with five pink- 
ish purple stripes, often several 
on one stalk, which lengthens very 
much as the seed ripens ; stamens 
five, inserted low down on the 
tube of the corolla and alternat- 
ing with its lobes ; ovary two 
celled, with entire or two-lobed 
stigma. Capsules globular, two- 
celled, containing two to four 
seeds, which have fine wool all 
around the margins. (Fig. 223.) 

Means of control 

Except to satisfy hunger it would Fig- 223. - Wild Sweet Potato Vine 
,. p ,, 1 , (Ipom<xa pandurata). X i- 

not pay to dig tor these deeply 

buried roots. Repeated deep cutting of the stems, putting a hand- 
ful of salt or a few spoonfuls of crude carbolic acid on the shorn 
surfaces, will finally subdue the weed. 




FIELD BINDWEED 
Convolvulus arvensis, L. 

Other English names : European Bindweed, Small-flowered Morning- 

Glory, Cow-bind, Bell-bind. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by horizontal 

roots that bud new plants. 



322 



CONVOLVULACEAE {CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 



Time of bloom: June throughout the summer. 

Seed-time: August until cut off by frost. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Manitoba, southward to Virginia, Missouri, 

and Kansas. 
Habitat : Rich soil ; fields, meadows, and waste places. 



A most obnoxious weed, spreading chiefly by means of its long, 
creeping, cord-like roots, which at any part of their length may 
bud new plants. Stems smooth, slightly 
angled, slender, one to three feet long, twin- 
ing about and over any plant within reach, 
robbing it of air and light while the roots 
below are starving it of food and moisture. 
Leaves alternate, halberd-shaped, with back- 
ward-pointing lobes at the base, on slender 
petioles. Flowers pink, sometimes nearly 
white, funnel-shaped, about an inch across, 
usually but one or two on each slender pe- 
duncle, but occasionally three or four ; calyx 
not bracted at the base as in the following 
species, but there are two small scale-like 
bracts, some distance below, on the peduncle. 
Capsules globular, two-celled, usually four- 
seeded. Seeds dark brown, about one-eighth 
of an inch long, pear-shaped, rough, with one 
side flat and the other rounded ; too frequently 
an impurity of other seeds. (Fig. 224.) 

Fig. 224. — Field Means of control 
Bindweed (Convolvulus n i ? -r» i ^ i 

arvensis). X |. ^^^ dean seed, rut the ground under 

clean cultivation for two years ; the infested 
land should be deeply plowed and as many as possible of the 
whip-cord roots harrowed out or raked out and destroyed, or 
they may be fed to pigs ; but each bit left in the soil will start 
new growth and tillage must be so frequent and so thorough that 
no green leaves are permitted to feed these roots. Where it is 
practicable to grow alfalfa, this crop tends to smother the Bind- 
weed with its thick cover and the frequent cutting checks leaf 
growth of the weed and prevents seeding. Or infested land may 




CONVOLVULACEAE {CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 



323 



be broken up with the plow and hogs may be turned in — with 
snouts in working order — for the purpose of turning out and 
eating the succulent roots, of which they are very fond. Sheep 
pasturing on infested ground will also keep leaf -growth down and 
will starve the underground growth. 



HEDGE BINDWEED 

Convolvulus sepium, L. 

Other English names: Great Bindweed, Braeted Bindweed, Hedge 

Lily, Rutland Beauty, Devil's Vine. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstoeks. 
Time of hloom : June to August. 
Seed-time : Late July to October. 
Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to the Carolinas, 

Missouri, and Nebraska, 
Habitat: Cultivated ground, fence rows, thickets, waste places. 

Nearly as obnoxious as the smaller Field Bindweed, and about 
as hard to control ; its rootstoeks, however, 
are larger and not so brittle ; the trailing or 
twining stems are three to ten feet or more 
in length. Leaves smooth, long, triangular 
halberd-shaped, the basal lobes diverging and 
truncate; petioles slender, usually shorter 
than the blades. Flowers solitary, about 
two inches long, the corollas flaring funnel- 
shaped, pink, with white stripes, or clear 
white, lifted on slender axillary four-angled 
peduncles, often five or six inches in length. 
Just below the flower and overlapping and 
concealing its five-lobed calyx is a pair 
of large, heart-shaped bracts, which are 
persistent and enfold the fruit. Capsule 
globular and may contain four seeds, but 
often only two or three are fertile; the 
seeds are angular kidney-shaped, about an 
eighth of an inch long, dark brown. They 
retain vitality for several years. (Fig. -^.^i''- ^2^;~ ^f'^p 

•^ ./ \ & Bindweed {Convolvulus 




225.) 



sepium) . X 



324 CONVOLVULACEAE {CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 

Means of control 

Persistently starve the rootstocks by the frequent close cutting 
of the stems. This weed is an argument against any more fences 
than are an absolute necessity. It loves the mellow soil of a 
cornfield and, though it may be well fought until the corn crop 
attains full stature, too often the later growth is neglected ; after 
the "ears begin to fill" the pest is permitted to mature seed as 
well as to make sufficient leaf-growth to restock the pernicious 
underground storehouses with food for another year. There can 
be no such relaxing of the struggle if the weed is to be sup- 
pressed ; it must be cut and again cut until the corn is laid by. 
Other measures, such as are advised for Field Bindweed, may 
also be used for this plant. 

CLOVER DODDER 

Cuscuta Epithymum, Murr. 

Other English names: Love-vine, Strangle Weed, Hairweed, Devil's 

Hair, Devil's Gut, Hellbind. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Locally in most of the states. 
Habitat : Wherever the clovers or alfalfa are extensively grown. 

The farmer who sees his newly seeded clover or alfalfa field 
partly or wholly in the grip of this parasite gets a realizing sense 
of the value of clean seed. For the Dodder is there because it 
was sown there with the crop. If the plant is allowed to ripen 
fruit, the ground will be made foul and unfitted for similar crops 
for at least eight years, the dormant vitality of the seed being re- 
tained for a period of five to seven years. 

The parasite awakens late — nearly a month after the green- 
leaved plants on which it must depend have started growth ; it 
germinates in the soil but draws from it no sustenance. The 
seedling looks like a bit of yellowish red hair, two to four inches 
long, with a slight knob, or swelling, at one end, swaying pliantly 
about, searching for a host plant to which it may attach itself. 
If no such plant is within reach the seedling falls to the ground and 



CONVOLVULACEAE {CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 



325 



dies ; if there is such a plant, the 
parasite quickly twines about it, 
develops tiny, wart-like suckers 
at the point of contact, breaks 
connection with the earth, and 
thereafter "sponges its living," 
drawing from the host plant the 
food assimilated by the green 
leaves for its own growth. Con- 
sequently the Dodder needs no 
leaves and has none, the whole 
plant being a mere coarse, yel- 
lowish red thread, branching very 
freely and the branches behaving 
as did the original filament, reach- 
ing out for living support, em- 
bracing it, and then often parting 
from the main stalk and becom- 
ing separate plants ; so that the 
growth from a single seed may 
cover a considerable extent of 
ground, binding the herbage into 
a tangled mass and sucking out 
its life. The parasite itself dies 
at the point where its growth 
started, when its hosts are killed, 
but the many spreading branches 
continue their existence. Even 
a broken bit of stalk, dropped 
where it can seize on a host, 
promptly takes hold and starts 
a new center. (Fig. 226.) 

The small flowers are whitish 
or faintly tinged with pink, ses- 
sile, massed in dense clusters ; 
calyx five-lobed or occasionally 
only four-lobed, acute; corolla 
lobes spreading, bell-shaped, with 




Fig. 226. — Clover Dodder {Cus- 
cuta E pithy mum) . xh Capsule and 
seed very much enlarged. 



326 CONVOLVULACEAE {CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 

as many stamens as lobes set between their points and ex- 
serted; ovary two-celled and style two-parted. Scales within 
the corolla tube large, incurved, and toothed all round. Cap- 
sules small, globular, two-celled, four-seeded, but often only 
two or three seeds are developed. Seeds very small, rounded, 
oval, grayish or yellowish brown ; they are the most dangerous, 
the most to be dreaded of all the impurities of clover seeds. No 
seed should ever be harvested from a Dodder-infested clover field 
and such seed should be unsalable at any price. Neither should 
such a crop be harvested and fed as hay, for the seeds, uninjured 
and viable, often pass the digestive tracts of animals, and may 
be spread on other fields in the manure, not to speak of the seeds 
that would be scattered wherever the hay was handled. Baled 
hay is one of the sources of Dodder distribution. 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Infestation is often in patches where a single 
seed or but a few have germinated. In such a case, cut the in- 
fested plants close to the ground, before any seeds have ripened 
if possible, pile them on the spot where they grew, let them dry 
for a day or two, cover with straw, shavings, or some light rubbish, 
soak with kerosene oil, and burn, being careful to get every thread, 
cutting beyond the apparent limit of damage. Then stir the sur- 
face soil of the patch lightly with rake or hoe, making a small 
trench about the edge, cover a couple of inches deep with oil- 
soaked chaff or rubbish, and again burn, in order to destroy any 
seeds that may have matured and fallen to the soil. Or the soil 
of the patch may be well sprinkled with crude carbolic acid. If 
a whole field is infested, it will be best to plow the crop under; 
but it must be done before the seeds ripe7i, indeed before they form, 
else the land will be made unfit for occupation by clover or alfalfa 
for seven or eight years. Or, the field may be pastured off by 
cattle or sheep before the seed ripens ; but in that case the animals 
must not be moved about, for bits of stalks may adhere in the 
clefts of their hoofs, or unsuspected seeds may be in the droppings. 
If seeds have been allowed to mature, the crop should be mowed, 
dried, and burned on the spot, for Dodder-infested crops should 



CONVOLVULACEAE {CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 327 

not be carried about because of the danger of infection. Culti- 
vated crops should then be grown for some years before the land 
is again used for clover or alfalfa. 

Spraying with Ai-senite of soda has been found in some cases to 
be satisfactory, a solution of one pound of the poison to ten gallons 
of water being used. The clover and the alfalfa were also much 
injured, seemingly killed by the treatment, but recovered and made 
new growth from the roots after having been relieved from the 
strangler's grip. A twenty-per-cent solution of Iron sulfate has 
also been found to be effective on alfalfa fields, killing the parasite 
and apparently destroying the crop ; but, as with the arsenical 
treatment, new growth sprang from the roots. 

FLAX DODDER 

Cuscuta Epilinum, Weihe 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: Late August to October. 

Range : Wyoming, Idaho, the Dakotas, and other states where flax 

is cultivated. 
Habitat : Flax and alfalfa fields. 

The coiling stems of this species have somewhat less of the 
reddish tinge that characterizes the Clover Dodder. The flowers 
are yellowish white, and the tube of the small, five-lobed corolla 
does not spread like a bell but is often slightly constricted just 
below the lobes like the mouth of a vase ; stamens included ; 
scales short and broad, notched at apex and toothed only part- 
way down the sides. The seeds are very much smaller than the 
flax seeds, of course, and might very readily be removed from 
them if it were not for a habit that this Dodder has of dropping 
seeds in pairs, which cohere, making them nearly as heavy as 
those of the flax, though of different shape. But seed from 
Dodder-infested flax fields, if intended for sowing, should be 
rejected at any price, and even when intended for linseed-oil 
manufacture, flax-seed should be very carefully cleansed from all 
contamination of Dodder-seed. 

Means of control the same as for Clover Dodder. 



328 CONVOLVULACEAE {CONVOLVULUS FAMILY) 

FIELD DODDER 

Cuscuta arvensis, Beyrich 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : New York to the Northwest Territory, southward to Florida 

and Texas ; also in California. 
Habitat : Open situations ; appears to dislike shade. 

This is the most injurious species east of the Mississippi Valley, 
for it is not at all particular on what it feeds. One single plant 
has been recorded as spreading over and drawing nourishment 
from eight different species at once. Almost any herbaceous plant 
will do, but it likes the clovers best ; and it likes to climb to the top 
of its host plant and spread a tangled mass of threads there, like 
a carpet ; therefore it is more conspicuous than the lower-growing 
Clover Dodder and can sooner be detected in a field. 

The strangling stems are pale yellow, very slender. Flowers in 
dense roundish clusters ; calyx-lobes broad, obtuse ; corolla-lobes 
pointed, the points inflexed and the scales wdthin the tube of the 
corolla much fringed ; stamens not exserted ; capsules globular. 
Seeds nearly double the size of those of Clover Dodder, and in 
consequence very much harder to separate from clover seed. For 
this reason it is often called "Large-seeded Dodder," but this 
name is applied also to the Pretty Dodder {Ciiscuta indecdra, 
Choisy), which is more common to the western United States. 

Means of control the same as for Clover Dodder. 

COMMON DODDER 

Cuscuta Gronovii, Willd. 

Other English names: Wild Dodder, Onion Dodder. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Manitoba, southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Habitat : Moist shady places ; low grounds, meadows, waste places. 

This species is probably the most widely known of its tribe, 
Like the Field Dodder, it seems indifferent as to its hosts and. 



POLEMONIACEAE (POLEMONIUM FAMILY) 



329 



■ Like a living skein enlacing, 
Coiling, climbing, turning, chasing," 



will embrace anything from a tall New Eng- 
land aster to an onion, or even some shrubby 
plants, such as the willows, and it is a high 
climber. 

Stems deep yellow to orange, rather coarse. 
Flowers very numerous, in dense clusters ; 
corolla bell-shaped, waxen white, and its five 
lobes, as well as those of the calyx, rounded 
instead of pointed, the scales within the 
tubes thickly fringed at summit, more spar- 
ingly at the sides ; stamens exserted. Cap- 
sules globose or short-pointed ovoid. Seeds 
comparatively rather large. (Fig. 227.) 

Wherever the Common Dodder attacks 
cultivated plants, both it and they should 
be treated with scythe and fire before any 
seed ripens. 

SKUNKWEED 

Navarretia squarrosa, H. and A. 
(Gilia squarrosa, H. and A.) 




Fig. 227. — Common 
Dodder {Cuscuta Gro- 
novii). X 4- 



Other English names: Stinkweed, Pepperweed, Sticky Gilia. 

Native. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Ti7ne of bloom: May to July. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range: Washington, California, and Nevada. 

Habitat: Grain fields, meadows, and vineyards. 

A troublesome and most disagreeable weed, viscidly glandular 
and unpleasant to touch, very bitter to the taste, and emitting a 
strong, fetid odor. Hay and grain among which it grows are 
damaged by contact with it, for the offensive smell of its sticky 
secretions is persistent and cattle reject not only the weed but 
also the hay that has been cured in touch with it. 

Stem eight to fourteen inches tall, erect, rigid, branching from 
the base, often of a ruddy or a brownish hue, and covered with 
glandular hairs. Leaves alternate, once or twice pinna tifid, the 



330 



HTDROPHYLLACEAE {WATERLEAF FAMILY) 



segments lance-shaped and again cut or toothed, sticky-hairy, 
the upper leaves and bracts often spinescent. Flowers blue, about 
an eighth of an inch broad, in dense, axillary 
clusters; corolla funnel -form, with five spread- 
ing lobes and five included stamens ; the calyx 
has five spine-tipped, viscidly hairy lobes as 
long as the corolla tube. Capsule three-celled 
and three-valved with eight to twelve seeds 
in each cell. Seeds very small, and when wet 
are mucilaginous, which helps them to be car- 
ried about on farming tools and to adhere to 
the feet of animals. (Fig. 228.) 

Means of control 

Put the land under cultivation with a hoed 
crop. In pastures, meadows, and waste places 
the plants should be closely and repeatedly 
cut during the growing season, entirely pre- 
venting seed development. Burn over rankly 
infested ground where the plants have matured, 
thus destroying the seeds on the surface. The 

seed is said to be short-lived, and if the plant is not allowed to 

reproduce itself it must soon be suppressed. 




Fig. 228.— Skunk- 
weed (N avarretia 
squarrosa). X j. 



NYCTELEA 

Ellisia Nyctelea, L. 
{Macrocdlyx Nyctelea, Kuntze.) 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : April to June. 
Seed-time: May to July. 

Range: New Jersey to Minnesota and the Saskatchewan, south- 
ward to Virginia, Missouri, Nebraska, and Colorado. 
Habitat: Grain fields, meadows, waste places. 



Although this plant ranges nearly across the Continent, it is 
most troublesome as a weed in the wheat-growing country of the 
Northwest, where it appears early in spring, makes a rapid growth 



BORAGINACEAE {BORAGE FAMILY) 



331 



which absorbs much of the food and moisture needed by the crop, 
matures its fruit, and dies down early in July. 

Stem four inches to a foot high, slender, and diffusely branched. 
Leaves two to four inches long, with slender petioles, the upper 
ones alternate, the lower ones usually opposite ; all are pinnately 
divided, but the segments of the upper ones are usually entire, 
those of the lower ones toothed or 
lobed. The whole plant is finely 
rough-hairy and has a rank, dis- 
agreeable odor. Flowers solitary on 
slender peduncles, from the forks 
or opposite the leaves ; occasionally 
the later ones are in one-sided clus- 
ters of two or three. They have a 
calyx of five-pointed lobes and a five- 
lobed, nearly cylindrical, white or 
bluish corolla, with five included 
stamens and two styles, united at 
the base. Calyx and corolla of 
about the same length (a little more 
than a quarter-inch) when the flower 
first opens ; but as the fruit forms 
the calyx enlarges and spreads widely, 
becoming a five-pointed star-shape, nearly an inch broad, with a 
small globose two-celled capsule in the center usually containing 
four seeds. (Fig. 229.) 




Fig. 



229. — Field Nyctelea {Elli- 
sia Nyctelea). X i- 



Means of control 

In grain fields the seedlings should be dragged out with a weed- 
ing harrow in the spring, when the crop is but a few inches high. 
Short rotations with cultivated crops will most easily keep the 
weed in subjection. 

INDIAN HELIOTROPE 



Heliotropium indicum, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to September. 
Seed-time: July to November. 



332 



BORAGINACEAE {BORAGE FAMILY) 



Range: Virginia to Ohio and. Illinois, southward to Florida and 

Texas, 
Habitat: Fields and waste places. 




Fig, 230. — Indian Heliotrope 
(Heliotr opium indicum) . 



A coarse, many-branched, and very 
hairy plant, untouched by grazing 
animals, robbing neighboring plants 
of much food and moisture. Stems 
one to three feet high, rather stout. 
Leaves alternate, broadly ovate to 
heart-shaped, three to six inches long 
and nearly as wide, wdth wavy edges 
and short, slightly margined petioles. 
Flowers in long, terminal, bractless, 
partly coiled spikes, which straighten 
as the blossoms open from the base 
upward ; the season of bloom is so 
long that ripe seeds are falling from 
the bases of the spikes before the buds 
cease to unfold at the summit ; co- 
rolla salver-form, violet-blue, very 
small, the tube longer than the 
hairy calyx ; stamens five, included, 
the anthers nearly sessile. Fruit 
splitting into two closed carpels, 
ribbed on the back, each usually con- 
taining two seeds or nutlets. (Fig. 
230.) 



Means of control 

Prevent seed production by early, frequent, and persistent 
cutting. 



HOUND'S TONGUE 

Cynoglossum officinale, L. 

Other English names: Dog Bur, Dog's Tongue, Woolmat. 
Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 



BORAGINACEAE (BORAGE FAMILY) 



333 



Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range : Quebec to Minnesota, southward to Georgia and Kansas. 

Habitat: Fields, pastures, waste places. 



A worthless weed anywhere, but a special pest in pastures, its 
downy-hairy leaves having a disagreeable odor and a nauseous 
taste and the burs being among the worst that beset the fleeces of 
sheep. 

Root rather thick, deep-boring, black, 
crowned the first year with tufted, dull 
green leaves, six inches to a foot in 
length, oblong, pointed — shaped some- 
what like a hound's tongue — with long, 
channeled petioles ; stem-leaves much 
smaller, and sessile or clasping by rounded 
or heart-shaped bases. Flowering stalk 
one to three feet tall, stout, leafy, branch- 
ing near the top. Racemes terminal, 
simple or branching, lengthening as the 
flowers mature ; the latter reddish purple, 
the corolla funnel-form, five-lobed, less 
than a half-inch broad, with five included 
stamens, a single style and deeply four- 
lobed ovary. The hairy calyx enlarges 
as the burs mature; these are comprised 
of four pointed obovoid, compressed, nut- 
lets, each about a quarter-inch long, 
covered with short, barbed prickles, and 
forming a small pyramid with the withered style for its peak, 
to which they are attached so slightly that a touch from 
a passing animal or a garment will detach and carry them 
away. (Fig. 231.) 




Fig. 231. — Hound's 
Tongue (Cynoglossum offi- 
cinale). X h 



Means of control 

Deep cutting of the crown leaves, with spud or hoe, in late fall 
or early spring. Fruiting stalks should be cut close to the ground 
before the first flowers mature. 



334 BORAGINACEAE {BORAGE FAMILY) 



BLUE BUR 

Ldppula echindta, Gilibert 
{Echinospermum Ldppula, Lehm.) 

Other English names: European Stickseeds, Sheep Bur, Burseed, 

Burweed, Bur Forget-me-not. 
Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of blootri : June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range: Nova Scotia to British Columbia, southward to Virginia, 

Indiana, and Nebraska. Also in Texas. Locally in other states. 
Habitat: Dry fields, pastures, roadsides, waste places. 

This weed is the cause of much annoyance and loss to wool- 
growers. Sheep have carried it into many new localities, its 
presence In Texas being due to that agency. Stem one to two feet 
tall, erect, slender, branching at the top, gray with appressed 
hairs. Leaves narrow oblong to linear, entire, covered on both 
sides with fine, appressed, white hairs, sessile or the lowest spatu- 
late and tapering to short petioles. Flowers in terminal more or 
less one-sided, leafy-bracted racemes ; the pedicels short, stout, 
not deflexed in fruit ; corolla blue, hardly an eighth of an inch 
broad ; stamens included ; calyx five-pointed, enlarging and 
spreading as the burs mature ; these are formed of the four 
nutlets, each about an eighth of an inch long, angled on the 
inner side, the other side rounded and having around the margin 
a double row of short spines tipped with star-shaped hooks. 
These spines break off readily, but the fruit can still be identified, 
when among other seeds, by its angles and the smooth space on 
the rounded side. 

Means of control 

Late fall plowing for the purpose of destroying autumn plants. 
Pull or cut all flowering stalks before the first seeds ripen. 

VIRGINIA STICKSEED 

Ldppula virginidna, Greene 

Other English names: Beggar's Lice, Beggar's Ticks. 
Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 



BORAGINACEAE {BORAGE FAMILY) 



335 



Time of bloom : June to August. 
Seed time: July to September. 

Range: New Brunswick to western Ontario and Minnesota, south- 
ward to the Gulf of Mexico. 
Habitat: Upland brushy pastures, thickets, borders of woods. 

Sheep are the animals most likely to 
be grazing where this weed grows, and it 
is most damaging to their fleeces. Stems 
slender, two to four feet tall, branching 
at the top into a widely divergent 
panicle. The root-leaves are roundish 
ovate to heart-shaped, with long, slender 
petioles; these die away before the 
coming of the fruiting stalk in the 
second year; stem-leaves oblong-ovate 
to oval, pointed at base and tip, the 
lower ones petioled, the upper ones ses- 
sile, softly hairy on both sides. Racemes 
long, very slender, swung out almost hori- 
zontally ; corolla bluish or nearly white, 
minute, its five lobes spread salver-form, 
the five stamens included in its tube. 
Burs globose, the four nutlets covered jtig. 232. — Virginia Stick- 
on margin and back with fine, barbed seed (Lappula virginiana). 
prickles. (Fig. 232.) x ^• 

Means of control the same as for Lappula echinata. 




MANY-FLOWERED STICKSEED 

Lappula fioribunda, Greene 

Other English names : Western Sheep-bur, Western Stickseed, Large- 
flowered Stickseed. 

Native. Biennial or perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed time: July to September. 

Range : Ontario and Minnesota to the Saskatchewan and British 
Columbia, southward to New Mexico and California. 

Habitat: Plains, upland pastures. 

Stems two to five feet tall, stout, erect, branching into a large 
panicle at top. Leaves rough-hairy on both sides, oblong to 



336 



BORAGINACEAE {BORAGE FAMILY) 



narrow lance-shaped, two to four inches long, the lower ones taper- 
ing to margined petioles, the upper ones sessile. Racemes long, 
ascending, man^^-flowered, usually in pairs ; corolla blue, more 
than a quarter-inch broad, the five lobes spreading; pedicels 
nearly as long as the flower, reflexed in fruit. Burs about a quarter- 
inch long, the four nutlets keeled, margined with a single row of 
flattened, awl-like, barbed prickles. 

Means of control the same as for Ldpinda echinata. 



Fig. 
Burweed 

termedia) 



YELLOW BURWEED 

Amsinckia intermedia, F. and M. 

Other English names: Yellow Tarweed, 
Fireweed, Yellow Forget-me-not. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloo7n : May to July. 

Seed-time: June to August. 

Range: Pacific Coast. 

Habitat: Grain fields, meadows, pastures, 
and vineyards. 

An unpleasant, hairy weed, with sticky, 
bristly burs which make it a pest to Cali- 
fornia wool-growers. Stem erect, clothed 
with stiff white bristles, one to three feet 
high, with spreading branches. Leaves 
rather thick, lance-shaped to linear, en- 
tire, and thickly covered with fine, bristly 
hairs much shorter than those on the 
stem. Flowers in crowded, terminal, 
leafy-bracted racemes which lengthen as 
the succession of bloom approaches the 
summit ; when developed, the racemes may 
be five to ten inches long, peduncled, and 
have usually matured seeds at the base 
before the latest buds are unfolded. Co- 
rolla orange-yellow, about a quarter-inch 
broad, its five lobes spread salver-form, 
^UrZiZuJ'in- ^"^ t^f t"^^. enclosed for about half its 
. X J. length in a bristly calyx with very narrow, 




B OR AGIN ACE AE {BORAGE FAMILY) 337 

pointed lobes. The stiff bristles on the calyx enable it to cling 
to clothing and the coats of animals, particularly sheep, and 
the seeds which it encloses are largely so distributed. These 
are four incurved nutlets, keeled on the back, rough, wrinkled, 
and about a tenth of an inch long. (Fig. 233.) 

Means of control 

When grain is but a few inches high and the soil is moist, the 
weed-seedlings should be raked out of it with a weeding harrow. 
Badly infested meadows should be cleansed by a short rotation 
containing a well-tilled hoed crop. 

COMFREY 

Symphytum officinale, L. 

Other English names: Healing-herb, Knit-back,. Backwort, Bruise- 
wort, Slippery-root, Asses' Ears. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Ti7ne of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Newfoundland to Minnesota, southward to Maryland. 
Habitat: Moist meadows, along ditches, and in waste places. 

Comfrey was brought to this country by the early settlers be- 
cause of its healing virtues, and is an escape from the *' Garden of 
Simples." The root is spindle-shaped, thick, fleshy, mucilaginous, 
covered with thin, black bark ; it is still valued medicinally, and, 
when collected in late autumn, sliced lengthwise, and dried, is 
worth six to eight cents a pound in the drug market. (Fig. 234.) 

Stems one to three feet high, branching, hairy. Lower leaves 
long ovate to lance-shaped, thick, rough, net-veined, hairy on 
both sides, narrowing at base to margined petioles ; upper leaves 
decurrent on the stem in long, wedge-shaped wings. Flowers in 
curving terminal racemes, yellowish white, sometimes light purple ; 
corolla a little more than a half -inch long, the tube somewhat 
dilated, the throat crested below the lobes which are very short 
and spreading ; five stamens inserted on the tube and included ; 
calyx with five lance-shaped segments, acute, rough, hairy. 
Nutlets about one-sixth of an inch long, ovoid, brown, shining, 
nearly smooth, the base concave and toothed. 



338 



BORAGINACEAE {BORAGE FAMILY) 



Means of control 

Deep cutting, well below the crown, before the first flowers 
mature. Dormant seeds may furnish a young crop, but these 
plants are easily pulled while the taproot is small. 





Fig. 234. — Comfrey (Symphytum offici- 
nale). X J . 



Fig. 235. — Small 
Bugloss (Lycopsis arven- 
sis). X h 



SMALL BUGLOSS 

Lycopsis arvensis, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Quebec to western Ontario and Minnesota, southward to 

Virginia. 
Habitat : Dry or sandy soil ; fields and waste places. 

Stems six to eighteen inches high, slender, bristly-hairy, many- 
branched, the branches procumbent. Leaves one to two inches 



BORAGINACEAE {BORAGE FAMILY) 339 

long, narrow oblong to lance-shaped, obtuse, slightly wavy-edged, 
bristly-hairy, sessile or the lower ones narrowing to short, margined 
petioles. Flowers in terminal, leafy-bracted, curving racemes, 
numerous, crowded, the corolla-tubes curved, less than a quarter- 
inch long, with five spreading lobes, pale blue ; the five included 
stamens inserted on the tube, the throat closed with bristly scales ; 
calyx-lobes, acute, nearly as long as the corolla-tube. The four 
tiny nutlets rough-wrinkled, erect, with concave base. (Fig. 235.) 

Means of control 

Prompt cutting at the beginning of bloom, preventing all seed 
production. 

WHEAT-THIEF 

Lithospermum arvense, L. 

Other English names : Stoneseed, Field Gromwell, Corn Gromwell, 

Redroot, Pigeonweed, Bastard Alkanet. 
Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: Early May to August. 
Seed time: July to September. 
Range: Quebec to Ontario and Michigan, southward to Georgia 

and Kansas. 
Habitat: Grain and clover fields, meadows, waste places. 

An early immigrant from Europe, probably coming with the first 
seed-wheat. Once in the soil it was safe to stay, for the hard 
seeds retain their vitality for many years. Root red, thickish, 
rather deep, fringed with spreading, fibrous rootlets. Stem six to 
eighteen inches high, slender, branching, finely hairy. Alternate 
leaves a half-inch to two inches long, linear to lance-shaped, light 
green, entire, sessile or the lowest with short petioles, hairy on 
both sides. Flowers sessile or very nearly so in the upper axils ; 
corolla cream-white, funnel-form, five-lobed, about a quarter-inch 
long, scarcely exceeding the hairy calyx, and having five stamens 
included in its tube. The spikes at first appear crowded but be- 
come distant with the succession of bloom, which is so long that 
ripe nutlets are dropping from the base while buds are yet develop- 
ing at the top ; the earlier fruits fall before the accompanying crop 
is ready for harvest. Nutlets about a tenth of an inch long, dull 



340 



BORAGINACEAE {BORAGE FAMILY) 



brownish gray, wrinkled, pitted, and hard as 
stone, whence one of the common names ; they 
are a common impurity of poorly cleaned wheat 
and rve, and also of timothy and alsike clover. 
(Fig. 236.) 

Means of control 

Sow dean seed. Where the appearance is 

new and the areas small enough to permit of 

hand-pulling, that operation pays because it 

saves the soil from befoulment. Spray infested 

grain fields with Iron sulfate or Copper sulfate 

when the first blossoms appear. Burn over 

stubbles for the purpose of destroying seeds 

on the surface. Drop winter wheat and rye 

„,?^^f • ?p^ • T" from the rotation until a cultivated crop has 
Wheat-thief {Li- . i i i o i e 

thospermum ar- been grown on the land tor the purpose or 

X h stirring dormant seeds into growth. 




COMMON GROMWELL 

Lithospermum officinale, L. 

Other English names: Pearl Plant, Graymile, Littlewale. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Ti7ne of bloom: May to August. 

Seed-time : July to September. 

Range: Quebec to Minnesota, southward to New Jersey. 

Habitat: Fields, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 



Cattle refuse to eat these rough-hairy plants, though people are 
said to have used the leaves as a substitute for tea in Revolution- 
ary times. Root deep-boring, pinkish white, spindle-shaped. 
Stems one to three feet high, erect, much branched, and leafy to 
the summit. Leaves broadly lance-shaped, pointed at both ends, 
rough-hairy above, downy underneath, entire, and sessile. 
Flowers cream-colored or greenish white, very small, on very short 
pedicels in the upper axils ; corolla funnel-form, five-lobed, with 
five hairy crests in the throat ; calyx rough-hairy, with narrow. 



BORAGINACEAE {BORAGE FAMILY) 341 

acute segments, nearly as long as the corolla. The four nutlets 
each about an eighth of an inch long, ovoid, smooth, shining, 
pearl-white. 

Means of control 

Deep cutting while in first bloom. If the root is merely shaved 
at the surface it sprouts again, but when cut well below the crown 
it dies. Badly infested ground is best treated by putting to a 
well-tilled hoed crop. 

HOARY PUCCOON 

Lithospermum canescens, Lehm. 

Other English names: Paint Plant, Gray Gromwell. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : April to June. 

Seed time: June to August. 

Range: Ontario to the Northwest Territory, southward to Vir- 
ginia, Alabama, and Arizona. 

Habitat: Dry soil; prairies; fields, meadows, pastures, waste 
places. 

The thick, deep-boring, red root of this plant yields a red stain 
or dye; the Indians used it for decorating their naked bodies, 
before battle or on ceremonial occasions, and they called all plants 
from which they obtained such juices Puccoon. In grain fields 
it is even more obnoxious than the Wheat-thief, because it is 
perennial, and its hard, pearl-like seeds are possessed of exceedingly 
long vitality. 

Stems six to fifteen inches high, simple or branched at the top, 
covered with fine, grayish, appressed hairs, particularly when 
young. Leaves one-half inch to nearly two inches in length, 
oblong to linear, obtuse, appressed hairy above, downy beneath, 
entire, sessile. Flowers sessile in the upper axils, the ends of the 
branches forming dense spikes, usually curved ; corolla about a 
half-inch long, deep orange, the five lobes spread salver-form, the 
tube of a lighter yellow and longer than the hairy calyx. Nutlets 
about an eighth of an inch long, ovoid, pointed, keeled, smooth, 
and lustrous pearl-white. 

Means of control the same as for the Common Gromwell. 



342 



BORAGINACEAE {BORAGE FAMILY) 



VIPER'S BUGLOSS 

Echium vulgdre, L. 

Other English names: Blueweed, Blue Devil, Blue Thistle, Viper's 

Herb, Snake Flower. 
Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: New Brunswick to Ontario and Nebraska, southward to 

Georgia. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, pastures, waste places. 

In Australia this weed is known as "Paterson's Curse," from 
the settler who unwittingly introduced it, and it is "proclaimed" 
by the state, to the end that all men's 
hands may be turned against it. (Fig. 237.) 
First-year leaves tufted, linear oblong to 
lance-shaped, three to six inches long, 
entire, bristly hairy on both sides, crown- 
ing a thick, dark taproot which bores into 
the soil often to the depth of more than 
a foot. Flowering stalks appear in the 
second season, one to two feet high, erect, 
slender, bristly, the bristles springing from 
fine, red tubercles which speck the stem ; 
on the leaves these prominent specks are 
pale green ; when near maturity the bristly 
hairs harden into prickles, which come away 
as readily as cactus spines, making the 
weed a most vicious thing to handle. 
Flower-spike compound, formed of many 
small, one-sided, curving spikelets springing 
from the upper axils ; calyx five-toothed, 
bristly; corolla a half-inch or more long, 
irregular funnel-form, unequally five-lobed, 
pink in the bud, violet-blue when fully 
open, withering to a deep purple ; the five 
stamens are unequal, the longer ones exserted and all have red 
anthers. Nutlets small, three-angled, wrinkled, of very long 
vitality, and too often an impurity among other seeds. 




Fig. 237. — Viper's 
Bugloss (Echium vulgar e) . 
Xi. 



VERBENACEAE {VERVAIN FAMILY) 343 

Means of control 

In meadows and pastures, spudding or hoe-cutting first-year 
leaf tufts from their roots in autumn or early spring. Overlooked 
plants that produce flowering stalks the next season should be cut 
close to the ground before any seed matures. Cultivation of the 
ground destroys the weed if no seeds are in the soil. 

EUROPEAN VERVAIN 

Verbena officinalis, L. 

Other English names: Holy herb, Herb-of-the-Cross, Simpler's Joy, 

Enchanter's Plant. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: July to November. 
Range: New England and Middle Atlantic States, southward to 

Florida and Texas. Also on the Pacific Coast. 
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

An escape from gardens that has become a troublesome weed 
in many places. Stem one to three feet tall, smooth, four-sided, 
slender, branched and spreading. Leaves opposite, oblong lance- 
shaped in outline but pinnatifid, the lower ones tapering to mar- 
gined petioles ; upper ones becoming nearly or quite entire and 
sessile. Flowers purple, very small, on slender, bracted, thread- 
like spikes often four or five inches long ; corollas tubular, the five 
lobes spreading salver-form ; stamens four, in two pairs of unequal 
length, included ; calyx five-toothed, enclosing the fruit, which, as 
in all the Vervains, splits into four very small, hard nutlets. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by close cutting or pulling while the 
plant is in early bloom. 

WHITE VERVAIN 

Verbena urticoefolia, L. 

Other English name : Nettle-leaved Vervain. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to September. 



344 VERBENACEAE {VERVAIN FAMILY) 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: New Brunswick to Minnesota, southward to Florida and 

Texas. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 

Seeds of this plant are said to retain their vitality for several 
years, and, they are too often an impurity of poorly cleaned clover 
and grass seed. Stem three to five feet in height, slender, four- 
sided, finely rough-hairy or sometimes smooth, with ascending 
branches. Leaves opposite, thin, oblong ovate, long-pointed, 
coarsely toothed, with short, grooved petioles ; they are often 
splotched or covered with a white mildew fungus, which makes 
the weed most unsightly and a menace to better plants. Spikes 
loosely panicled, very long, slender, numerous, set very sparsely 
with tiny, white flowers, of which only a few are open at a time 
and these are hardly noticeable. Nutlets soon fall after ripening. 

Means of control 

Small areas may be grubbed out or hand-pulled, when the ground 
is soft ; but land badly infested with this weed should be put 
under cultivation for a short rotation, in order that its perennial 
roots and dormant seeds may be cleaned from the soil. 

BLUE VERVAIN 

Verbena hasiata, L. 

Other English names: Wild Hyssop, Simpler's Joy. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to British Columbia, southward to Florida 

and New Mexico. 
Habitat: Moist meadows, fields, and waste places. 

A conspicuous plant because of the deep violet color of its 
panicled spikes of flowers. Stem three to seven feet tall, erect, 
square, finely rough-hairy, coarsely grooved, and branching near 
the top. Leaves oblong lance-shaped, long-pointed, the lower 
ones often halberd-shaped at base, finely rough-hairy, double- 
toothed, darker above than below, with heavy veins and short, 



VERBENACEAE {VERVAIN FAMILY) 



345 



grooved petioles. Spikes numerous, very 
slender, the small, five-lobed, tubular flowers 
sometimes scattered along their length but 
usually grouped in a short circlet with a 
green stretch of buds above and another of 
growing and ripening fruits below. The 
small, brown nutlets usually drop from the 
stalk, calyx and all, without separating. 
They are a frequent impurity in clover and 
grass seeds. 

Means of control the same as for White 
Vervain. 

LARGE-BRACTED VERVAIN 

Verbena hracteosa, Michx. 



Native. Annual or perennial. Propagates 

by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to July. 
Seed-time: June to August. 
Range: Minnesota to British Columbia, 

southward to Georgia, Florida, Texas, 

and California. 
Habitat: Plains and prairies ; grasslands, waste places 




Fig. 238. — Blue Ver- 
vain ( Verbena hastata) . 
X i. 



Stems numerously branched from the base, some prostrate and 
some ascending, very slender, four-sided, rough-hairy, six to 
fifteen inches long. Leaves broadly wedge-shaped in outline but 
pinnatifid, the lobes cut and toothed, the basal pair spreading and 
narrowing abruptly to short, margined petioles. Spikes single, 
the blossoms being scattered somewhat remotely along each spike 
and having the hairy bracts subtending the flowers very long 
and stiff, the lower ones pinnatifid, nearly concealing the small, 
purplish blue corollas. Each plant produces many of the little 
nutlets which foul the soil worse than other species because of 
their earlier maturity. Seed-bearing plants are often transported 
in baled hay, and the weed has of recent years been thus intro- 
duced in a number of widely separated localities in the northeastern 
part of the country. 

Means of control the same as for V. stricta. 



346 LABI AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 

HOARY VERVAIN 

Verbena stricta, Vent. 

Other English names : Woolly Vervain, Mullen-leaved Vervain. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Ontario to Minnesota and Wyoming, southward to Ten- 
nessee, Texas, and New Mexico. 
Habitat: Dry plains and prairies. 

The range of this plant is increasing, mostly by the agencies of 
impure seed and baled hay. Stem ten to thirty inches tall, rather 
stout, obtusely four-angled, erect, simple or with a few branches 
above. Leaves ovate, pointed or sometimes obtuse, double- 
toothed, sessile or the lower ones with short petioles ; the whole 
plant clothed with fine, white-woolly hair. Spikes very dense, 
rather stout, usually solitary but sometimes several in a panicle, 
becoming six inches to a foot in length when fruiting ; corolla 
purple, large for a Vervain, being more than a quarter-inch long 
and the five spreading lobes about as broad. Its dense flowering 
habit makes the plant very productive. 

Means of control 

Only by a short rotation of cultivated crops is it practicable to 
rid the ground of the perennial roots and the dormant seeds of 
this weed. 

CREEPING BUGLEWEED 

I Ajuga reptans, L. 

Other English names: Carpenter's Herb, Sicklewort, Brown Bugle. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by stolons. 

Tirne of bloom : May to July. 

Seed-time : June to August. 

Range : Eastern Canada and New England to southern New York. 

Habitat: Fields and waste places. 

This plant is a member of the Mint Family which have in 
common the characteristics of square stems, opposite leaves, 
corollas more or less two-lipped, stamens four in unequal pairs, 



LABI AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



347 



or sometimes only two, and a deeply four-lobed 
ovary, which in fruit forms four tiny nutlets 
or achenes surrounding the base of a single 
style in the bottom of a persistent calyx. 
(Fig. 239.) 

Stems rather stout, smooth or only 
slightly hairy, six inches to a foot in height. 
Root-leaves tufted, obovate, rounded at apex, 
scallop-toothed, tapering to margined petioles ; 
stem-leaves sessile or nearly so, rounded or a 
short oval, becoming entire near the top. 
Thrust out from the tufted basal leaves are 
numerous slender stolons, a foot or more 
long, which take root and form new plants, 
causing the weed to grow in patches. Flowers, 
pale blue or white, in axillary clusters, sessile, 
very small ; the upper lip of the corolla very 
short and cleft, the lower one three-lobed and 
spreading ; calyx five-toothed. Nutlets rough- 
ened, and very small. 

Means of control 

Fig. 239. — 
Scattered colonies of the plant should be Creeping Bugleweed 
hoed out and removed from the soil, for if left (^-^'^^^ revtans). 
on moist ground it will take root again. Cultivation of the soil de- 
stroys the weed, and badly infested ground should be so treated. 




AMERICAN GERMANDER 

Teucrium canadense, L. 

Other English name: Wood Sage. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: New England to Nebraska, southward to Georgia and 

Texas. 
Habitat: Moist grasslands, roadsides, fencerows, banks of streams, 

and waste places. 



348 



LABIATAE {MINT FAMILY) 



Not a woodland plant in spite of its name. Stem one to three 
feet high, slender, erect, simple or with few branches, covered 
with fine, appressed hairs. Leaves long- 
ovate to lance-shaped, green above, ap- 
pressed gray-hairy beneath, sharply toothed, 
narrowing to short petioles. Flowers in 
long, crowded racemes, six inches to a 
foot in length, making the plant con- 
spicuous when growing in meadows ; calyx 
densely velvety-hairy, five-toothed ; corolla 
pink or rose-purple, the lower lip with one 
large, rounded spreading lobe and two 
small pointed ones ; upper lip deeply cleft, 
the exserted stamens and style thrust out 
between its lobes ; the blossoms are often 
nearly an inch long, in whorls of six or 
more, on very short pedicels, subtended by 
leafy bracts about as long as the calyx. 
Nutlets obovoid and rough. (Fig. 240.) 




Mearis of control 



Fig. 240. — American 



If the infestation is new, grub out or 

?an^dlns^' (^^^^cr^^^m j^^j^^.p^^ ^^le plants when the ground is 

soft, before the first flowers mature ; or 

cut closely and repeatedly during the growing season, so as to 

starve the roots and prevent seed production. 



BLUE CURLS 

TricJiostema dichotoinum, L. 

Other English name: Bastard Pennyroyal. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Maine to Kentucky, Florida, and Texas. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; fields and waste places. 



vStem six to eighteen inches high, slender, stiff, obtusely four- 
angled, much branched, finely hairy, and viscid. Leaves oblong 



LABI AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



349 



to lance-shaped, pointed at both ends, finely clammy-hairy on 
both sides, entire, with very short petioles. Panicles loosely 
spreading, the flowers single or in pairs 
on forking branchlets, subtended by paired 
bracts ; the flowers are blue, sometimes 
pink or white, their most noticeable feature 
being the four very long, upcurving, violet 
stamens, thrust far out beyond the corolla — 
more than as long again ; in the bud they 
are spirally coiled and both the common 
name and the "book-name" have reference 
to their remarkable appearance; corolla 
tube very slender, its lower lobe oblong 
and declined ; calyx unequal, with three 
long and two short lobes, and when the 
withered corolla falls the four small, rough- 
ened, ovoid nutlets are in plain sight. 
(Fig. 241.) 

Means of control 

Enrich the land ; when cultivated and 
supplied with humus, which will enable Fig. 241. — Blue 
the soil to retain moisture, the drought- Cnr\s {THchostema dicho- 
lovmg weed will disappear. 




HOREHOUND 

Marrubium vulgdre, L. 

Other English names: Marrube, Houndsbene, Marvel. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range : Maine and Ontario to South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. 

British Columbia to California. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; upland fields and pastures. 



A most troublesome weed where sheep are kept, for the long 
points of the calyx-lobes harden into hooked spines which catch 
in the fleeces to the detriment of the latter and which also help 



350 



LAB I AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



to distribute the seed. In this way many of the mountain pas- 
tures of the Pacific Coast have been so overrun with this weed as 
to crowd out all other growth. The taste is biting and persistently 
bitter, and no animal will eat the herb. 

The plant is used in medicine as a cough remedy and more 
than a quarter-million pounds of the dried herb are annually im- 
ported from Europe. The parts used 
are the leaves and the flowering tops, 
collected just before the buds open 
and quickly dried in the shade. The 
price is two or three cents a pound. 

Stem one to two feet high, stout, 
erect, square, white-woolly, branching 
and bushy. Leaves opposite, broadly 
oval or rounded, with scalloped edges, 
wrinkled and rough-hairy above, white- 
woolly below, with large veins and 
short, stout petioles. Flowers nearly 
white, in dense axillary whorls, the 
upper lip of the small, tubular corolla 
notched, the lower one three-lobed and 
spreading ; stamens included ; calyx 
white-woolly, with ten awl-like, re- 
curved teeth, the alternate ones shorter. 
Nutlets ovoid and smooth. (Fig. 
242.) 




{Marrubium vulgare) . 



Means of control 

Frequent and close cutting before seed development ; or, if the 
colonies are not too large, removal by hoe-cutting. If the ground 
is fit for cultivated crops, the necessary tillage promptly destroys 
the weed. 

CATNIP OR CATMINT 



Nepeta Catdria, L. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: July to November. 



LABIATAE {MINT FAMILY) 



351 



Range: New Brunswick and Quebec to Minnesota, southward to 

Georgia and Kansas. 
Habitat: Roadsides, neglected farmyards, waste places. 



This herb was formerly much used as a tonic and home remedy 
for disordered nerves. It is still quoted in the drug market at 
three to eight cents a pound, the leaves and the flow^ering tops 
being the parts used, collected wdien in 
full flower. 

Stem one to three feet high, erect, 
rather stout, square, downy-hair^', and 
much branched. Leaves opposite, ovate 
or oblong heart-shaped, light green above, 
downy beneath, deeply scallop-toothed, 
with slender petioles. Flowers in termi- 
nal spikes one to four inches long, sub- 
tended by small, narrow bracts ; corolla 
pale lilac or white, with pale purple 
dots, the tube dilated in the throat and 
the broad middle lobe of the lower lip 
finely scalloped ; the stamens ascending 
under the upper lip, the lower pair the 
shorter ; calyx downy, five-toothed, per- 
sistent, containing the four nutlets, which 
are ovoid, slightly flattened, smooth, and 
brown. (Fig. 243.) 




Fig. 243. — Catnip or 
Catmint {Nepeta Cataria) . 

xi. 



Means of control 

Cats are very fond of the plant and a few stalks grown for the 
family pet may be welcome ; but patches of the weed about farm- 
yards make a slovenly appearance and should be grubbed out. 
Roadside and waste-land growth should be cut when beginning to 
bloom. 

GROUND IVY 

Nepeta hederdcea, Trevisan 

Other English names: Field Balm, Gill-over-the-Ground, Gill-ale, 

Ale-hoof, Cat's Foot. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 



352 LABI AT AE (MINT FAMILY) 

Time of hloom : April to July. 

Seed-time: Late May to August. 

Range: Newfoundland to Ontario and Minnesota, southward to 

Georgia and Kansas. 
Habitat : Moist or shady soil ; lawns and yards, waste places. 

In old days, before the hop took its place, this plant was used 
for flavoring and clarifying the home-brewed ale. Like the Plan- 
tain, it seems almost domesticated and is a familiar weed about 
dwellings and in towns. 

Stems slender, prostrate, and creeping, with many small, ascend- 
ing branches, very leafy, three to five inches high. Leaves rounded 
or kidney-shaped, scallop-toothed, green on both sides, with slender 
petioles. Flowers in small axillary clusters, pale purple, spotted 
with deeper purple; corolla about a half -inch long, its upper lip 
with two lobes, three lobes in the lower lip, the upper pair of 
stamens nearly twice the length of the lower ones, rising against 
the upper lip ; the tube more than twice the length of the five- 
lobed, hairy calyx. The four small nutlets ovoid and brown. 

Means of control 

It is almost impossible to dig out this weed and get all of the 
slender, creeping rootstocks. If the infested ground is a lawn the 
surest method is to skin off the rather shallow layer that contains 
the roots and probably also a good supply of the seeds, and relay 
with new sod or sow with clean seed. 



HEAL-ALL 

Prunella vulgaris, L. 

Other English names: Self-heal, Hock-heal, Heart-of-the-Earth, 

Carpenter's Herb, Sicklewort. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rooting at the 

nodes. 
Time of hloom : May to October. 
Seed-time: June to November. 

Range : Nearly all parts of the world. Native to Europe and Asia. 
Habitat : Fields, lawns and yards, open woods, and waste places. 

A frequent pest in lawns, stooling out when beheaded by the 



LABI AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



353 



lawn-mower and sometimes taking complete possession of the 
sward. It adapts itself to circumstances, fruiting when not more 
than two inches high or sometimes attaining to more than a foot, 
the square, grooved stem sometimes erect or ascending, or often 
prostrate. Leaves long ovate, approaching to lance-shaped, obtuse, 
entire or with shallow scalloped edges, usually smooth or sometimes 
sparsely hairy, narrowing to short petioles. Flowers in densely 
packed terminal and axillary spikes, 
clustered in threes in the axils of mem- 
branaceous, veined, and hairy bracts ; 
the blossoms are in various shades of 
purple, some very deep in color, others 
so pale as to be nearly white ; corolla 
tubular, with a lengthened upper lip 
which is arched into a hood, into which 
the longer of the two pairs of stamens 
ascend ; the lower lip three-lobed and 
spreading; calyx also two-lipped, closed 
in fruit, the upper lip truncate or with 
three short teeth, the lower one two- 
cleft and pointed. Seeds four small, 
ovoid nutlets, which are ripening and 
dropping all summer. (Fig. 244.) 



^2: 



Means of control 




Fig. 244. — Heal-all {Pru- 
nella vulgaris). X \. 



In fields the weed may be killed by 
frequent hoe-cutting. While treating 
a border with Iron sulfate in order to kill Chickweed, the 
writer discovered that the Heal-all succumbed quite as readily 
to its blight, the leaves blackening and falling off, while the buds 
ceased to grow and in a few days rotted ; without leaf -growth the 
roots cannot survive, and therefore Prunella can be driven from the 
lawns by repeated sprayings without injury to the grass. The 
solution used was somewhat strong — about eight per cent — but 
grasses readily recover from much stronger " doses " of this 
chemical ; and the beauty of the sward can afford to endure 
temporary injury for the sake of relief from such company. 
2a 



354 



LABI AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



HEMP NETTLE 

Galeopsis Tetrdhit, L. 

Other English names : Dog Nettle, Bee Nettle, Stinging Nettle, Wild 

Hemp, Bastard Hemp. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range : Newfoundland to British Columbia and Alaska, southward 

to North Carolina and Michigan. 
Habitat: Fields, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 




Fig. 245. — Hemp Nettle {Gale- 
opsis Tetrahit). X \- 



Grazing cattle shun this weed, and 
gloves are needed in handling it when 
full-grown. Stem one to three feet 
tall, stout, four-sided, swollen below 
the joints, much branched and spread- 
ing, bristling with prickly hairs. The 
opposite leaves are ovate, long- 
pointed, coarsely toothed, bristly- 
hairy on both sides, and with bristly 
petioles. Flowers in a dense, short, 
leafy-bracted terminal spike and in 
axillary clusters ; corolla nearly an 
inch long, pink or pale purple, with a 
stiff, concave entire upper lip, longer 
than the lower one, which has three 
lobes ; the tube is about twice the 
length of the bristly calyx, which has 
five long, nearly equal awl-like points. 
Seeds four small, flattened, ovoid 
nutlets. (Fig. 245.) 



Means of control 

Prevent reproduction by close cutting while young. If nearing 
maturity when cut the weed should be removed from the ground, 
as the large, swollen stems contain enough nutriment to ripen the 
seed. 



LABI AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



355 



HENBIT 

Ldmium amplexicaule, L. 

Other English names : Dead Nettle, Blind Nettle, Bee Nettle. 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: April to October. 

Seed-time: May to November. 

Range: New Brunswick to Ontario and Minnesota, southward to 

Florida and Arkansas. 
Habitat: Cultivated ground, waste places. 



This weed flourishes best in cool weather, dying down in the 
heat of midsummer but recovering in autumn and maturing a 
late crop of seeds ; autumn seed- 
lings develop fruit very early in the 
spring, so that the soil is fouled 
with two abundant sowings each 
year. Stems six to eighteen inches 
long, slender, square, branching 
from the base and also from the 
lower axils, weak and spreading 
on the ground. Leaves opposite, 
rounded, deeply scallop-toothed, 
sparsely hairy, the lower ones with 
short petioles, the upper ones ses- 
sile and clasping. Flowers in small 
axillary and terminal clusters ; 
calyx hairy, with five erect, awl- 
like teeth ; corolla-tube slender, 
with the upper lip erect, entire, 
and bearded, dark red, the lower 
three-lobed, white, spotted 



one 




Fig. 



246. — Henbit (Lamium am- 
plexicaule). X i. 



with purple ; stamens ascending 

against the upper \ip, the anterior 

pair the longer. The flowers contain much nectar and honeybees 

are frequent visitors. Seeds four long, ovoid nutlets, dark brown, 

specked with white dots. These seeds are long-lived and tillage 

should begin early and be continued late, in order to prevent their 

development and distribution. (Fig. 246.) 



356 



LABI AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



Means of control 

For small areas destruction of seedlings by hoe-cutting in autumn 
or early spring ; in fields thorough cultivation followed by heavy 
seeding with clover, which will crowd out the weed. 

MOTHERWORT 

Leonurus Cardlaca, L. 

Other English names: Lion's-tail, Lion's-ear, Cowtliwort. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota and Nebraska, southward to 
North Carolina. 

Habitat : About dwellings and in barnyards ; on roadsides ; a fre- 
quent tenant of vacant city lots. 




m^ 



One of the social, half-domesticated weeds, seldom found far 
from men's habitations ; it is medicinally valuable, the dried leaves 
and tops being worth three to five cents a 
pound in the drug market. 

Stem two to five feet tall, rather stout, 
square, with a few ascending branches. 
Leaves dark green, thin, finely rough-hairy ; 
the lower ones rounded, palmately lobed, 
usually five-pointed, often three or four 
inches broad ; higher up they become three- 
lobed and near the top they are often lance- 
shaped ; all with slender petioles. Flowers 
in crowded axillary whorls, pink, pale purple, 
or white, the corolla with its curving upper 
lip bearded outside, the lower one three- 
lobed and purple-dotted ; stamens ascending 
against the upper lip, the lower pair the 
longer. Calyx hairy, with five awl-like 
points which become hard and rigid ; each 
contains four small, brown, three-angled nut- 
FiG 247. — Mother- ^^^^ ^j^j^ l^j^^^^^ ^^ truncate apex tipped with 
wort {Leonurus Cardi- . ^ ^\ 

aca). X h fine, short, bristly hairs. (Fig. 247.) 








LAB I AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



357 



Means of control 

Deep cutting with hoe or spud before any seed has matured, 
using dry salt on the shorn surfaces for the purpose of checking 
new growth. 



HEDGE NETTLE 
Stdchys palustris, L. 

Other English names: Roughweed, Marsh Woundwort, Clown's 
Heal, Dead Nettle. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Ti7ne of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Newfoundland to the Northwest Territory, southward to 
New York, Michigan, and Illinois ; 
in the Rocky Mountains to New 
Mexico. Also native to Europe 
and Asia. 

Habitat: Damp grasslands and bor- 
ders of streams. 



A coarse weed, the stem one to 
four feet tall, stout, erect, square, the 
angles bristling with stiff, downward- 
pointing hairs. Because of its prickly 
hairiness and unpleasant taste cattle 
refuse to eat the plant either green or 
cured in hay. Leaves thick, oblong 
to lance-shaped, rounded or heart- 
shaped at the base, rough-hairy, 
coarsely saw-toothed, sessile or with 
very short petioles. Flowers in ter- 
minal interrupted spikes, in whorls 
of six to ten with small leafy bracts 
below; calyx bristly-hairy, its awl- 
like teeth more than half as long as 
the tube of the corolla, which is more 
than a half-inch in length, the lips 
pink or pale purple, spotted with 
deeper purple ; the upper lip concave 
and bearded outside, the unequal 




Fig. 248. — Hedge Nettle 
(Stachys palustris). X J. 



358 



LABI AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



stamens ascending against it, the lower lip three-lobed and spread- 
ing. Seeds small, ovoid nutlets. (Fig. 248.) 

Means of control 

Drainage of the ground ; prevention of seed development by- 
close cutting early in the season. Cultivation of the soil at once 
destroys the perennial roots. 



AMERICAN PENNYROYAL 

Hedeoma pulegioldes, Pers. 

Other English names: Mock Pennyroyal, Squaw Mint, Stinking 

Balm, Mosquito Plant, Tickweed. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Cape Breton Island to Ontario and Minnesota, southward 

to Florida and Nebraska. 
Habitat : Thin meadows, upland pastures, and in open woods about 

old stumps. 

The oil distilled from this herb is much used in making the 
mosquito dopes" which hunters and fishermen and many other 
persons are obliged to use in localities where 
mosquitoes are a plague ; the plant is also used 
medicinally and the leaves and flowering tops, 
collected in full bloom and dried, are worth one 
to three cents a pound. In taste and odor the 
plant is very like the true Pennyroyal, which 
is European. 

Stem erect, square, very slender, softly 

hairy, much branched, six inches to a foot in 

height. Leaves a half-inch to an inch long, 

thin, oblong-ovate, sparingly toothed, obtuse at 

apex, and narrowed to short petioles. Flowers 

in small axillary clusters, on short, hairy 

Fig. 249. — Ameri- peduncles; calyx hairy, the three upper teeth 

dl^JaTuhJi'oidfs)'. triangular, the two lower ones awl-shaped; 

X ^. corolla lavender or pinkish, about a quarter-inch 




LABI AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



359 



long, the upper lip merely notched but the lower one three-lobed 
and spreading ; perfect stamens two, rising against the upper lip, 
with two rudimentary ones below. The four nutlets within the 
persistent calyx, very small. (Fig. 249.) 

Means of control 

Meadows infested with the plant should be cut before the seeds 
develop. Cultivation and enrichment of the soil, where prac- 
ticable, soon enables better plants to crowd out the weed. 



CALAMINT OR WILD BASIL 

Satureja vulgaris, Pritsch 
{Clinopbdium vulgar e, L.) 

Other English names : Field Basil, Stone Basil, Horse Thyme, Basil- 
weed. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds 
and by stolons. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Manitoba, south- 
ward to West Virginia, and in the 
Rocky Mountains to Colorado. 

Habitat : Alluvial banks, brushy upland 
pastures, and borders of woods. 



Not even sheep care to eat Calamint, 
and if the plant had not such a prefer- 
ence for partial shade its stoloniferous 
habit would make it a bad weed. Stems 
erect, slim, square, hairy, ten to twenty 
inches tall, usually with a few branches 
but often simple. Leaves also hairy, 
variable in shape but mostly a long- 
pointed oval, sometimes toothed, some- 
times entire or wavy-edged, the upper 
ones sessile, the lower ones having short 
petioles. Flowers in dense axillary and 
terminal clusters, the latter nearly glob- 
ular ; the subtending bracts bristly-hairy 




Fig. 250. — Calamint or 
Wild Basil (Satureja vulga- 
ris). X i. 



360 



LABIATAE {MINT FAMILY) 



and as long as the calyx, which is also hairy ; corolla lavender, 
pink, or whitish, its tube not much exceeding the calyx-teeth, the 
upper lip entire or only slightly notched, the lower lip three-lobed 
and spreading ; stamens four, ascending, the longer pair exserted. 
Seeds four small, ovoid, smooth nutlets. (Fig. 250.) 



Means of control 
Deep hoe-cutting. 



before seeds are developed or stolons take 



root. 



Native. Perennial. 



BUGLEWEED 

Lycopus virginicus, L. 

Other English names: Water Horehound, Ditch Horehound, Vir- 
ginia Horehound, Buglewort, Paul's Beton,y. 

Propagates by seeds and by stolons. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time : August to November. 
Range: Labrador to British Columbia, 
southward to Florida, Alabama, and 
Missouri. 
Habitat: Wet meadows, banks of streams; 
often clogs ditches. 



A common weed, of which the most 
troublesome part is the long, thread-like, 
leafy, interlacing runners, reaching out in 
all directions from the parent, sending up 
new plants and making tangled mats. The 
plant is used in medicine and brings three 
or four cents a pound in the drug market. 
It would be some satisfaction, in clearing out 
a ditch, to make the weed itself pay for the 
labor. For this purpose the herb must be 
pulled entire while in full flower, and dried 
in the shade. 

Stems six inches to two feet high, slender, 
obtusely four-sided, usually somewhat hairy. 
Leaves dark green or tinged with purple, 
long ovate, firm, coarsely toothed, pointed 




Fig. 251. — Bugle- 
weed {Lycopus virgini- 
cus). X |. 



LAB I AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



361 



at both ends, those near the base tapering to short petioles, the 
upper ones sessile. Flowers in dense axillary clusters, pale purple to 
white, the lobes of the calyx nearly equal, the corolla- tube cylindric 
to funnel-form, with four flaring lobes, suggesting the reason why 
the plant is named Bugleweed ; perfect stamens two, the posterior 
pair being rudimentary. Seeds four small nutlets, three-angled, 
longer than the calyx-lobes, in plain view when mature. (Fig. 251.) 

Means of control 

In fields, frequent cutting, close to the ground, while in early 
flower; or, better, hand-pulling, which often takes runners and 
all. In ditches the weed must be grubbed out or hand-pulled. 



PEPPERMINT 

Mentha piperita, L. 

Other English names: Lamb Mint, Brandy Mint 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by 
seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minne- 
sota, southward to Florida and Tennessee. 

Habitat: Prefers moist soil, but will grow 
anywhere. 



Some thousands of acres in this countr}^ 
particularly in the states of New York, 
Indiana, and Michigan, are very profitably 
given to the cultivation of this plant for the 
distillation of its oil, which is used in flavor- 
ing confectionery, in cordials and cosmetics, 
and also medicinally. But beyond the 
bounds of cultivation the plant is a trouble- 
some weed. A bed of it in the herb garden 
is difficult of restriction within proper limits, 
as the long, underground suckers are continu- 
ally thrusting up new plants where they are 
not wanted, 




Fig. 252. — Peppermint 
{Mentha piperita). X \- 



362 



LABI AT AE {MINT FAMILY) 



Stems one to three feet tall, often tinged with reddish purple, 
smooth, square, erect and branching. Leaves dark green, lance- 
shaped, about half as wide as long, sharply toothed, smooth on 
both sides except that the veins beneath are slightly hairy, pointed 
at tip, rounded or narrowed at base to a short petiole. Flowers in 
terminal spikes, obtuse at tip, densely whorled or sometimes in- 
terrupted, purple, rather showy; calyx smooth at base but with 
nearly equal hairy teeth ; corolla with upper lip entire and lower 
lip three-lobed ; the four stamens, equal, erect and included ; 
style two-cleft at summit. Nutlets four in each calyx, ovoid and 
smooth. (Fig. 252.) 



Means of control 

A peppermint patch is about as difficult to clean out as is one 
of Quack Grass, for the rootstocks must all be removed from the 
soil or starved to death. In the one case, this means very diligent 
use of grubbing hoe and rake; in the other, such close and fre- 
quent cutting as to allow no green leaves to 
i appear throughout the growing season. 



SPEARMINT 

Mentha spicdta, L. 

Other English names: Lamb Mint, Mackerel 
Mint, Garden Mint, Our Lady's Mint, Sage 
of Bethlehem. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds 
and by stolons. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minne- 
sota, southward to Florida and Kansas. 

Habitat : Moist ground ; fields and waste places. 

Like the preceding species this mint is cul- 
tivated for the distillation of its oil, which has 
a milder flavor and action than that of Pepper- 
mint. Stems ten to twenty inches high, nearly 
smooth, erect, square, branching. Leaves lance- 
shaped, unequally toothed, the surface some- 




FiG. 253. — Spear- 
mint (Mentha spi- 
cata). X \. 



SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 363 

what puckered and wrinkled, sessile or with very short petioles. 
Flowers pale purple, in terminal, narrow, pointed, usually inter- 
rupted spikes, the subtending bracts long-pointed and conspicuous ; 
calyx-teeth equal, smooth or only slightly hairy and nearly as long 
as the tube of the corolla which is smooth with upper lip entire 
or sometimes slightly notched, the lower lip with three rounded 
lobes ; stamens all four of the same length, erect, included. 
(Fig. 253.) 
Means of control the same as for Peppermint. 

BITTERSWEET NIGHTSHADE 

Solanum Dulcamara, L. 

Other English names: Woody Nightshade, Blue Bindweed, Felon- 
wort, Poison Berry. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to September. 

Seed-time : First fruits ripe in August but late clusters often cling to 
the vine until winter. 

Range: New Brunswick to Minnesota, southward to Georgia and 
Kansas. 

Habitat: Moist banks, fence rows, thickets, and around dwellings. 

The fruits of this plant are not dangerously poisonous, but are 
sufficiently so to bring on unpleasant sensations of nausea and 
cramp, particularly if the seeds are well ripened. Birds eat the 
fruits, however, without any apparent harmful effect, and void 
the seeds along fences and about house grounds and hedges, and the 
plants spring up where young children migh^ find the berries and 
be tempted to eat them. 

Stem slender, two to ten feet in length, round and smooth, or 
slightly hairy when young. Leaves alternate, thin, dark green, 
entire, with slim, grooved petioles, the lower ones ovate to heart- 
shaped, the upper ones halberd-shaped or with two lateral ear-like 
lobes at the base which often become separate leaflets. Flowers in 
small cymose clusters, on short, slender peduncles springing from 
the side of the stem between the leave's ; corolla violet-blue or 
purple, wheel-shaped, with five pointed lobes ; stamens five, inserted 
on the throat of the corolla, the anthers uniting in a cone around 
the style; ovary two-celled; calyx-lobes short and obtuse, per- 



364 



SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 



sistent at the base of the fruit, which is an ovoid pulpy berry, at 
first green, then bright orange, and finally ruby-red, the thin skin so 
transparent as to reveal the yellow seeds within. A single vine 
may exhibit all stages of coloring, from violet flowers to green and 
ripe fruit. 

Means of control 

Young plants may be hand-pulled when the ground is soft ; older 
roots must be grubbed out. Or the shrub may be killed by pouring 
hot brine or caustic soda about the roots. 




Propagates by 



COMMON, OR BLACK, NIGHTSHADE 

Soldnum nigrum, L. 

Other English names: Deadly Nightshade, Duscle, Poison Berry, 
Hound's Berry, Stubble Berry. 

Native. Annual, 
seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to October. 

Seed-time: Berries ripe in late 
August, but frequently are still 
maturing when plants are win- 
terkilled. 

Range : Nova Scotia to the North- 
west Territory, southward to 
Florida and Texas. 

Habitat: Cultivated ground, old 
fields, waste places. 



The poisonous qualities of this 
plant are said to vary much with 
the conditions of its growth, the 
more dangerous having more of 
the characteristic musky odor. 
Some housewives boldly make pies 
of the fruit — occasionally with un- 
pleasant consequences. Children 
have been poisoned by it, also 
Fig. 254. — Black Nightshade (Sola- calves, sheep, goats, and swine, but 
num nigrum). X i " fortunately few cases are fatal, "^ 

1 Thirty Poisonous Plants, by V. K. Chesnut, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 365 

though the illness caused by eating its ripe fruit is one of exces- 
sive nausea. (Fig. 254.) 

Stem one to two feet high, round, slender, with spreading 
branches, w^hen old often showing a purple tinge at the joints. 
Leaves alternate, long ovate, with slim, grooved petioles, thin, 
dark green, entire or sometimes wavy-edged, often bitten full of 
tiny holes by a small flea-beetle which infests the plant and makes 
it a menace to its relative, the potato. Flowers white, in small, 
umbellate clusters of three to ten on drooping peduncles springing 
from the side of the stem ; corolla wheel-shaped, five-lobed, about 
a quarter-inch broad ; stamens five, with filaments slightly hairy 
and obtuse anthers united in a cone around the style ; calyx- 
lobes much shorter, obtuse, spreading, persistent at the base of 
the berry, which is black, globular, smooth, a little more than 
a quarter-inch in diameter. 

Means of control 

Being annual the plants are readily destroyed by pulling or close 
cutting before the first fruits mature. If near maturity throw the 
plants on the compost heap, where fermentation will destroy the 
vitality of the seed ; or burn them. 

HORSE NETTLE 

Soldnum carolinense, L. 

Other English names : Sand Brier, Bull Nettle, Bull Thistle, Apple of 

Sodom, Tread-soft. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Ti7ne of hloom : May to September. 
Seed-time: July to November. 
Range: Massachusetts, Connecticut, and southern Ontario, to Iowa 

and Kansas, southward to Florida and Texas. 
Habitat : Meadows, pastures, and cultivated ground ; invades all 

crops. 

A near relative of the potato and one of the worst weeds native to 
this country; southern in its origin but rapidl}^ making its way 
northward and westward through the agencies of impure clover 
seed and baled hay. The deep-seated rootstocks are most tena- 
cious of life ; an Indiana farmer states that they " will live ten years 



366 



SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 



under a heap of sawdust and grow as soon as the dust is removed." 
Sheep are the only grazing animals that will touch the plant, and 
they merely nibble off the fruits ; the seeds are widely scattered 

in their droppings and many a 
productive acre is thus practically 
ruined. (Fig. 255.) 

Stem six inches to two feet tall, 
erect, loosely branched, roughened 
with short, stiff, star-shaped hairs, 
and beset with sharp, awl-shaped, 
yellow spines. Alternate leaves 
two to five inches in length, oblong 
to ovate in outline, irregularly and 
coarsely wavy-toothed, or sinuate- 
pinnatifid, covered with star-shaped 
hairs, veins and midrib prickly on 
both sides as are also the petioles. 
Flowers in open cymose clusters 
on prickly peduncles which spring 
from the side of the stem between 
the leaves, at first appearing ter- 
minal but becoming lateral as the 
stem lengthens ; corolla pale violet 
or bluish white, five-lobed ; stamens 
with anthers equal and tapering 
toward the summit ; calyx-lobes hairy, rather short, acute, per- 
sistent at the base of the fruit, which is an orange-colored berry, 
smooth, globular, about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, full 
of juicy pulp and flattened, straw-colored seeds. 




Fig. 



255. — Horse Nettle {Solarium 
carolinense) . X i- 



Means of control 

If the infestation is new and the area not too large, the plants 
may be killed outright by the use of hot brine, caustic soda, or 
kerosene which usually destroys all accompanying growths or, 
if pains are taken to apply the herbicide directly about the roots 
of the weeds, the neighboring plants may not be greatly damaged. 
If possible, all seed development should be prevented, which 



SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 



367 



means early, deep, and frequent cutting with hoe or spud ; salt on 
the cut surfaces will retard new growth and will also induce stock to 
bite off young shoots. In order to destroy the rootstocks short 
rotations are necessary, alternating cultivated crops, to which 
are given such thorough tillage that no green leaves are allowed 
to appear on the weeds, with such crops as rye, clover, and vetch, 
which will choke and smother the Nettle, supply late pasturage, 
and then be plowed under to furnish humus for another cultivated 
crop, well tilled. Two or three seasons of continuous effort are 
required in order to suppress the weed, but the labor is well repaid 
by the deliverance of the soil from such a pest. 



WHITE HORSE NETTLE 

Soldnum eloeagnifolium, Cav. 

Other English names : Prickly Nightshade, Silver-leaved Nightshade, 

Blue-top, Trompillo. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : May to September. 
Seed-time: July to November. 
Range: Missouri and Kansas to 

Texas and Arizona. 
Habitat : Plains and prairies ; 

meadows, pastures, cultivated 

grounds ; invades all crops. 

Stems one to three feet high, 
slender, branching, silver-white 
with a dense, scurf-like covering of 
fine, many -rayed hairs, and beset 
with slender, very sharp prickles, 
or these are often lacking. Leaves 
oblong to lance-shaped, obtuse, 
wavy-edged or entire, covered with 
fine, star-shaped, white hairs, and 
narrowed abruptly at the base to 
short, prickly petioles. Flowers in 
cymose clusters, appearing terminal 
but soon becoming lateral, between ^^^ 256. -White Horse Nettle 

the leaf axils ; corolla violet or light (Solanum eloeagnifolium). X \. 




368 



SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 



blue, five-lobed, nearly an inch broad; the five stamens with 
equal tapering anthers, similar to the preceding species ; calyx- 
lobes narrow lance-shaped, acute, hairy. Fruit a globular, yellow 
berry, about a half-inch in diameter. (Fig. 256.) 

Means of control the same as for the preceding species. 



BUFFALO BUR 

Solanum rostrdtum, Dimal. 

Other English names : Beaked Nightshade, Sand Bur, Colorado Bur, 
Texas Thistle, Mexican Thistle. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to September. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: South Dakota to Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas, and Mexico. 
Locally in the Eastern States. 

Habitat: Plains and prairies, foothills; meadows, pastures, culti- 
vated ground, waste places. 

This is one of the weeds frequently transported in baled hay, 
and its appearance in eastern localities has usually been first in 

vacant lots near city livery stables and 
on near-by farms where such stable 
refuse has been purchased for manur- 
ing the land. Also the burs are dis- 
tributed in the wool of sheep, as they 
formerly were in the matted coats of 
the buffalo herds, the plants being 
always abundant about the "buffalo 
wallows." (Fig. 257.) 

Stem one to two feet high, much 
branched, covered with yellowish, star- 
shaped hairs, and densely set with 
slender, awl-like, yellow spines. Leaves 
long oval in outline but once or twice 
pinnatifid, the segments often not op- 

/^^^ posite and very irregular in size, but 

the terminal one being usually largest, 
Fig. 257. -Buffalo Bur {Sola- covered with rayed hairs, the midribs 
num rostratum) . X j. and the petioles prickly. Flowers in 




SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 369 

open racemose clusters, on prickly peduncles from the side of the 
stem, the corolla wheel-shaped, nearly an inch broad, golden yel- 
low, its five lobes slightly irregular, the stamens and the style 
declined ; the lowest of the five stamens much longer than the 
others and with an incurved beak ; calyx densely prickly, becoming 
the bur that encloses the fruit. The plant frequently becomes 
a tumbleweed, distributing its burs as it rolls before the winds. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production. Being annual the weed can readily 
be suppressed if it is persistently cut or pulled while in early flower. 
Other tasks may well be postponed for a day or two in order to 
rid the ground of so undesirable a tenant. 

MEXICAN GROUND CHERRY 

Physalis ixocdrpa, Brotero 

Other English names: Strawberry Tomato, Tomatillo. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: Late August to November. 

Range : Southern, and Southwestern States ; cultivated for its 

fruit, and freely escaping. Local farther north. 
Habitat : Rich soil ; fields and waste places. 

The fruit of this plant has a pleasant flavor, either in the fresh 
state or when used in catsups and sauces ; birds also like the fruit 
and void the seeds unharmed, and in this and other ways the plant 
often becomes a troublesome weed. 

Stem one to nearly three feet in length, much branched, at first 
erect but later drooped and spreading, woody at base, angled, 
smooth except for sparse hairiness on growing branchlets. Leaves 
long-ovate, pointed, coarsely wavy-toothed or entire, the base 
wedge-shaped and tapering to a slender petiole. Flowers solitary, 
springing from the side of the stem slightly above the axils ; corolla 
bell-shaped, five-lobed, about a half-inch broad, yellow with pur- 
plish throat ; stamens five, erect, with anthers separate ; calyx 
at first short and spreading, but as the fruit begins to form it 
2b 



370 SOL AN ACE AE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 

elongates, becomes thin and much inflated, ten-ribbed, netted 
with purple veins, quite enclosing the two-celled, globular berry, 
the five triangular teeth meeting at the tip ; often the envelope 
is ruptured by the swelling fruit, or "cherry,'^ which is purplish 
red, nearly an inch in diameter, with a sweet and somewhat sticky 
pulp, in which many flattened, yellowish brown seeds are em- 
bedded. 



Means of control 

Prevent seed development by closely cutting or pulling the plants 
while in early bloom. 



LOW HAIRY GROUND CHERRY 

Physalis pubescens, L. 

Other English names: Bladder Cherry, Dwarf Cape Gooseberry, 

Husk Tomato, Strawberry Tomato. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: Late August to November. 
Range :^ Pennsylvania to California, southward to Florida and 

Mexico. 
Habitat : Sandy soils ; fields, meadows, pastures, waste places. 

Frequently cultivated at the North, but in the Southern States 
often obnoxiously plentiful as a weed. Stem slender, angled, hairy, 
decumbent at base, widely branching, seldom rising more than a 
foot above the ground but often extending for a yard or more in all 
directions. Leaves thin, long ovate, pointed, wavy-edged or entire, 
rounded or abruptly narrowed at base, the veins and petioles usu- 
ally hairy. Flowers less than a half-inch broad, pale yellow with 
brown-spotted throat, the five-lobed calyx at first short and hairy 
but becoming thin, membranous, and nearly smooth as it enlarges 
and envelops the growing fruit ; the more prominent ribs form a 
ring of small knobs around its peduncle. The berry within is yel- 
low, about a half-inch in diameter, not sticky like that of the 
Tomatillo, but more pleasant to the taste, being slightly acid. 

Means of control the same as for the preceding species. 



SOL AN ACE AE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 371 

VIRGINIA GROUND CHERRY 

Physalis virginidna, Mill. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstoeks. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: Late August to November. 

Range : New York to Manitoba, southward to Florida and Louisiana. 

Habitat : Rich soil ; fields, meadows, waste places. 

This plant is very variable, but is in all its forms a bad weed 
because of its fleshy, creeping rootstock. Stem eighteen inches to 
three feet tall, slightly angled, fork-branched, covered with ap- 
pressed hairs or sometimes nearly smooth or in some forms some- 
what glandular. Leaves long-ovate to lance-shaped, tapering at 
both ends, usually with a few roundish, irregular teeth on each side 
but often entire, rather thin, light green. Flowers more than a 
half-inch broad, the corolla sulfur-yellow with purplish brown 
spots, the stamens erect with deep yellow anthers ; the calyx at 
first hairy but as it enlarges becoming nearly smooth, pyramidal- 
ovoid, five-angled, and deeply sunken around the peduncle. 
Fruit reddish, about a half-inch in diameter. 

Means of control the same as for Prairie Ground Cherry. 

PRAIRIE GROUND CHERRY 

Physalis lanceoldta, Michx. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstoeks. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: Late August to November. 

Range : Illinois to Wyoming and New Mexico, southeastward to the 

Carolinas. 
Habitat: Dry soil; fields, meadows, pastures, waste places. 

Its deep, running rootstoeks make this weed much more perni- 
cious than its annual relatives, for the ground cannot be rid of its 
presence until these are killed. Stem one to two feet tall, sparsely 
set with flat hairs, slightly angled, and at first upright but later 
diffusely branched and spreading on the ground. Leaves broadly 
lance-shaped to spatulate, usually obtuse, tapering to the petiole, 
entire or rarely wavy-edged. Flowers dull yellow with brownish 



372 



SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 



centers, each about a half-inch broad, on peduncles about as long 
as themselves ; calyx at first hairy but when inflated almost smooth, 
nearly ovoid in shape, not sunken around 
the stem, its ten ribs showing merely as 
^^^^ lines on the surface. Berry reddish yel- 
low, about a half-inch in diameter. 
(Fig. 258.) 

Means of control 

Starve the rootstocks by persistently 
depriving them of leaf-growth, beginning 
with the first bloom ; retarding new 
growth by the use of salt or a few drops 
of kerosene on the shorn surfaces. In 
cultivated crops tillage should be con- 
tinued much later than is usual, for it is 
generally the late green foliage that 
assimilates the food which restocks the 
underground storehouses. Small areas 
may be killed outright by more liberal 
applications of kerosene, caustic soda or 
hot brine, making the ground barren for a season ; or the root- 
stocks may be grubbed out. 




°^ 



Fig. 258. — Prairie 
Ground Cherry {Physalis 
lanceolata). X \. 



APPLE OF PERU 

Nicdndra Physalodes, Pars. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: Late August to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Ontario, and southward to Florida. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

Brought to this country to be cultivated for ornament in gardens, 
but naturalized as a weed in many localities, particularly in the 
southern part of its range. 

Stem rather stout, smooth, angled, two to five feet tall, erect 
and branching. Leaves long-ovate, rather thin, three to eight 



SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 



373 



inches long and half as wide, obtuse, coarsely toothed on the outer 
half but entire where they taper abruptly to the short, grooved 
petiole. Flowers solitary on 
terminal and axillary pedun- 
cles, large, the corollas bell- 
shaped, pale blue or sometimes 
white with purple throats, 
nearly two inches in length, 
the lips scarcely at all lobed 
and flaring to about the same 
in width ; stamens five, in- 
serted on the corolla near its 
base, the filaments short, di- 
lated and hairy at base ; style 
slender with three to five- 
parted stigma and ovary with 
three to five — mostly five — 
cells ; calyx at first small, 
composed of five joined seg- 
ments, blunt arrowshaped, 
with conspicuous, backward- 
turned, acute auricles at base ; 
these are beautifully net- 
veined, and enlarge so greatly 
as to quite enfold and conceal the fruit, which is a dry-seeded, 
inedible berr^^, about a half-inch in diameter. (Fig. 259.) 




Fig. 



259. — Apple of 
Physalodes) . 



Peru (Nicandra 
Xh 



Means of control 

Prevent seed formation by close cutting or hand-pulling while 
the plant is in early bloom. 



BLACK HENBANE 

Hyoscyamus niger, L. 

Other English names : Fetid Nightshade, Insane Root, Hog's Bean. 
Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to September. 
Seed-time: July to October. 



374 



SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 



Range: Nova Scotia and Eastern Quebec to Ontario, New York, 
and Michigan ; also in Idaho and on the Pacific Coast. Locally 
about Atlantic seaports and in Iowa, Utah, and Montana. 

Habitat: Waste places. Prefers rich soil. 

A coarse, ill-scented, and very dangerous weed, poisonous in every 
part. Cattle avoid it because of its harsh texture and evil odor, 

but poultry die from eating its 
ripe seeds and hogs are killed by 
eating its fleshy roots. 

Stem stout, one to three feet in 
height, clothed with viscid hairs. 
Leaves dark green, three to six or 
more inches long, with irregular 
pointed lobes, wavy edges, and 
viscid-hairy midribs ; they are 
alternate, the upper ones sessile 
and clasping, but the lower ones 
petioled and drooping on the 
ground. Flowers in a short, one- 
sided cluster at the top of the 
plant and solitary in the leaf 
angles ; they are funnel-shaped, 
somewhat unequally five-lobed, 
nearly two inches broad, the co- 
rolla greenish yellow with throat 
and lobes netted with purple 
veins ; stamens five, exserted and 
declined ; calyx urn-shaped, with 
it enlarges to enclose the oblong 
capsule, which is about a half-inch long, two-celled and opens 
transversely around the top, the latter falling off like a lid, spilling 
the numerous seeds. These are kidney-shaped, brown, with a 
strongly netted surface. (Fig. 260.) 




Fig. 260. — Black Henbane (Hyoscy- 
amus niger). X \. 

five pointed lobes and five ribs ; 



Means of control 

Grub out and destroy the plants as soon as discovered, allowing 
no seed to mature. 



SOLAN ACE AE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 



375 



JAMESTOWN OR JIMSON WEED 

Datura Stramonium, L. 

Other English names : Jamestown Lily, Thorn Apple, Mad Apple, 
Devil's Apple, Devil's Trumpet, Dewtry, Stinkwort, Stinkweed. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to September. 
Seed-time: September to December. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Florida and Texas. 
Habitat : Fields and waste places. 

A coarse, ill-scented, dangerously poisonous plant, much too 
common ; children have been poisoned by eating its seeds and 
taking its flowers into their mouths. 
Although cattle will not touch the 
plant when green, they have been 
poisoned by the young leaves when 
cured in hay. 

Stem one to five feet tall, stout, 
smooth, or slightly hairy when young, 
pale green, branching by forking. 
Leaves alternate, three to eight inches 
long, pointed oval in outline but ir- 
regularly cut and toothed, dark green 
above, lighter below, thin, smooth, 
with large veins and stout petioles. 
Flowers solitary on short peduncles in 
the forks of the branches, the corolla 
white, trumpet-shaped, sometimes four 
inches long, the five-lobed mouth of 
the trumpet flaring to a width of about two inches ; five stamens 
included, their filaments inserted a little below the middle of the 
corolla tube ; calyx five-lobed and ridged, enclosing the tube for 
nearly half its length. Capsule about two inches long when 
mature, ovoid, prickly, incompletely four-celled, opening at the 
top; seeds many, dark brown, wrinkled, and flat. (Fig. 26L) 

Both leaves and seeds of Stramonium are used in medicine. 
About one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of the dried leaves 
are imported yearly at a cost of two to eight cents a pound, and 




Fig. 261. — Jamestown or 
Jimson Weed {.Datura Stramo- 
nium). X i. 



376 SOLANACEAE {NIGHTSHADE FAMILY) 

more than ten thousand pounds of the seeds, costing three to seven 
cents a pound. 

Means of control 

Pull or closely cut the plants before the ripening of the earliest 
capsules. 

PURPLE THORNAPPLE 

Datura Tdtula, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Ontario to Minnesota, southward to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat : Fields and waste places. 

A near relative of the Jimson Weed and equally poisonous. 
Stems one to five feet tall, fork-branched, smooth, deep purple. 
Leaves dark green, with purple veins and petiole, more hairy than 
the preceding species, long ovate, and coarsely toothed. The flar- 
ing lips of the trumpet-like corollas are violet or lavender, paling 
to white in the throat. The prickly capsule or "apple" is also 
purple, the thorns on its surface a little longer and stouter than 
those of the Jimson Weed. Seeds similar in appearance. 

Means of control the same as for the Jimson Weed. 

HAIRY THORNAPPLE 

Datura Metel, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: September to December. 

Range: New England to Florida, westward to Ohio. 

Habitat: Roadsides and waste places. 

Escaped from gardens, where it was cultivated for its beauty, 
but a dangerous stray in the highways. Stems four to eight feet 
tall, stout, much branched, finely glandular-hairy. Leaves four 
to ten inches long, broadly ovate, acute, inequilateral, entire or 
sometimes slightly wavy-edged, covered with fine, glandular 
hairs which give the surface a soft, velvety look. Flowers white, 
the trumpet-shaped corolla often six or seven inches long, the flar- 



SCROPHULARIACEAE {FIG WORT FAMILY) 



377 



ing lips three or four inches across ; calyx tubular, five-lobed, 
smooth, and glandular-hairy. "Apple" globular, about an inch 
and a half in diameter, both hairy and prickly. This plant is quite 
as poisonous as the two preceding species and should be as promptly 
suppressed when out of the bounds of cultivation 



MULLEIN 
Verbdscum Thdpsus, L. 

Other English names: Velvet Dock, Feltwort, Blanket-leaf, Hedge 

Taper, Candle-wick, Jacob's Staff. 
Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Florida and 

Kansas. 
Habitat: Old fields, pastures, and waste places. 



Gray states that the generic name of this 
plant is corrupted from Barhascum, "the 
bearded" — certainly most fitting for a plant 
so densely hairy in all its parts. (Fig. 262.) 

Stem two to seven feet tall, stout, erect, 
simple or with one or two upright branches 
near the top. Root-leaves tufted, spreading 
on the ground in a large, thick rosette; ob- 
long, light green, thick, densely woolly with 
branched and interlacing hairs, tapering to 
the base, four inches to a foot or more in 
length, the larger ones with petioles. No 
grazing animal will touch these felt-like 
leaves, and hibernating insects find them a 
safe winter shelter. Upper leaves narrower 
and more pointed, alternate, their bases often 
decurrent on the stem to the axils of the 
leaf below, making the stem four-winged. 
Flowers sessile on long, dense, cylindrical 
spikes ; calyx w^ith five pointed lobes, very 
woolly; corolla yellow, with five unequal. Mullein (Fer 
rounded lobes, spread flat, open for but a Tkai^sus). x 




Common 
hascum 



378 



SCROPHULARIACEAE (FIGWORT FAMILY) 



day; five stamens, with white filaments, the three upper ones 
shorter and bearded, wath smaller anthers than those of the longer 
lower ones. Capsule nearly a quarter-inch high, globular, two- 
celled, downy, filled with many fine, brown seeds. 

Mea7is of control 

Spudding or hoe-cutting of autumn rosettes ; pulling or close 
cutting of flower-stalks before seed development. 



MOTH MULLEIN 

Verbdscum Blattdria, L. 

Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to October. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: Quebec to Minnesota, southward to 

Florida and Kansas. 
Habitat: Clover fields, meadows, pastures, and 

waste places. 

A more pernicious weed than the preceding 
species, its invasion of grasslands causing the 
seeds to become mixed with those of timothy 
and other grasses, from which they are difficult 
to remove. The leaves are said to repel the 
cockroach (Blatta), whence the specific name ; 
but the writer has not found the reputation 
merited. 

Stem two to five feet high, round, slender, 

simple or occasionally branched, smooth or 

sparsely set with glandular hairs near the top. 

Lower leaves oblong, sometimes pinnatifid, 

smooth, dark green, veiny, double-toothed, three 

inches to nearly a foot in length, tapering to 

petioles ; seldom present at flowering time ; upper 

leaves alternate, pointed and partly clasping. 

Flowers in long, open racemes, on spreading 

pedicels nearly an inch long, with small, pointed 

,, „ . ,T7 7. bracts at the base; corolla about an inch broad. 

Mullein {Verbascum ' , ' 

Blattaria). X i the five lobes unsymmetrical, creamy-white or 




Fig. 263. — Moth 



SCROPHULARIACEAE {FIG WORT FAMILY) 



379 



pale yellow, the upper one brownish on the back; stamens of 
unequal lengths, the filaments bearded with purple hairs. Cap- 
sules globose, longer than the calyx, many-seeded. (Fig. 263.) 
Means of control the same as for Common Mullein. 



YELLOW TOAD-FLAX 

Lindria vulgaris, Hill 

Other English names: Butter-and-Eggs. Wild Snap-dragon, Flax- 
weed, Impudent Lawyer, Ranstead. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: June to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Manitoba, southward to Georgia and 
Nebraska. 

Habitat: Fields, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 

A weed very difficult to suppress because of its 
deep, running rootstocks. Cattle dislike its taste 
and odor, and in pastures it is left to reproduce 
itself unmolested; seed-bearing plants are fre- 
quently transported in baled hay. 

Stems several from the same root, erect, smooth, 
very slender, one to two feet tall, simple or with 
few branches. Leaves alternate, pale green, linear, 
entire, pointed at both ends, sessile, crowded on 
the stalks. Flowers in dense racemes, the earliest 
clusters terminal, later bloom springing from the 
axils ; corolla yellow, irregular, about an inch long, 
spurred at the base, two-lipped, the upper one 
two-lobed and erect, the throat nearly closed and 
yellow-bearded within, the bulging palate deep 
orange above spreading lower lips ; stamens four, 
in unequal pairs, included ; the flowers have an 
unpleasant odor. Capsules two celled, ovoid, each 
containing fifty to sixt}^ flattened, rough, wing- 
margined seeds. (Fig, 264.) 

Means of control 

If the area infested is small, use one of the strong herbicides, 
such as hot brine or caustic soda, which will kill all other plant 




Fig. 264.— 
Yellow Toad-flax 
{Linaria vulga- 
ris). X \. 



380 



SCROPHULARIACEAE (FIG WORT FAMILY) 



growth as well but will leave the ground clean when the chemical 
has leached away. Do not use a cultivator in ground befouled with 
Toad-flax ; it only serves to spread the weed ; hoe and hand-labor 
are more effective. If the plants are kept persistently and deeply 
cut throughout the growing season, the underground stems will 
finally starve to death. 



MARYLAND FIGWORT 

Scrophuldria marildndica, L. 

Other English names: Pilewort, Heal-all. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Massachusetts to South Carolina, Kansas, and Louisiana. 

Habitat: Lowland meadows, fence rows, and borders of woods. 

The knotted roots of this plant have 
long been reputed a cure for scrofula, 
piles, and other diseases, and are salable 
in the drug-market. The time for col- 
lecting is in autumn, when the summer's 
growth has stored the roots for winter's 
sustenance. 

Stem erect, slender, four-angled, 
smooth except for the glandular hairs on 
its flower stalks, usually much branched, 
often purplish red in color, three to eight 
feet tall. Leaves three inches to a foot 
in length, opposite, dark green, ovate, 
long-pointed, saw-toothed, with promi- 
nent veins and long, slender petioles. 
Flowers in long, open, leafless panicles 
at the summit of the stem and the 
branches ; corolla about a quarter-inch 
long, dull green outside, glossy purple 
within, with spreading lower lip and 
upper one erect, two pairs of fertile 
stamens of unequal length and a sterile 




Fig. 265. — Maryland Fig- 
wort (Schrophularia mari- 
landicd). X 5. 



SCROPHULARIACEAE {FIG WORT FAMILY) 



381 



fifth one, reduced to a purple scale on the roof of the corolla tube ; 
calyx five-cleft, with rounded lobes. Capsule ovoid, thin, papery, 
two-celled, opening at the top. Seeds many, small, rough, dull 
brown. (Fig. 265.) 

S. leporella, Bicknell, is a closely related plant, differing in 
having more coarsely toothed leaves, and flowers with corolla 
more contracted at the throat, the sterile stamen greenish yellow ; 
it is even more frequent on hillsides and brushy pasture. Range 
from Connecticut to Minnesota, southward to Nebraska and 
North Carolina. 



Means of control 

The roots may be killed by persistent 
cutting, aided by salt or carbolic acid 
on the cut surfaces. Or they may be 
grubbed out or pulled when the ground 
is soft, and perhaps sold for enough to 
pay for the trouble of their extraction. 



FOXGLOVE BEARD-TONGUE 

Pentstemon Icevigatus, Ait. 
Var. Digitalis, Gray 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to July. 
Seed-time: June to August. 
Range ; New York to Illinois, southward 

to Virginia and Arkansas. Locally in 

the Northeastern States. 
Habitat : Meadows, pastures, and waste 

places. 

An unwholesome and bitter weed 
which has been introduced in many new 
localities by means of baled hay and as 
an impurity of grain and grass seed. 
Cattle reject it when green, but will eat 
it as hay, when it is injurious to the 
flavor of dairy products. 




Fig. 266. — Foxglove 
Beard-tongue (Pentstemon 
Icevigatus var. Digitalis). 



382 SCROPHULARIACEAE (FIG WORT FAMILY) 

Stem rather stout, two to four feet tall, simple or branched from 
the base, often ruddy-colored, smooth except for the flower-stalks 
which are set with glandular hairs. Leaves opposite, light green, 
firm and glossy, long ovate to lance-shape, the upper ones sessile 
with clasping bases and the lower ones tapering to margined petioles. 
Panicle slender, many-flowered, terminal, the corolla about an inch 
long, whitish, tinged with reddish purple, the tube much dilated 
just behind the throat, which is open and not hairy ; the five lobes 
are spreading and pointed, two on the upper lip, three on the lower ; 
four stamens are fertile with purple anthers, and the sterile fila- 
ment, or "tongue," is bearded only on its upper side; calyx- 
segments lance-shaped, acute. Capsule ovoid, two-celled, con- 
taining many irregular, angled seeds. (Fig. 266.) 

Means of control 

Small areas may be destroyed by digging or pulling when the 
soil is soft, but meadows badly infested with Beard-tongue require 
to be put under cultivation for a season. 



PURPLE FOXGLOVE 

Digitalis purpiirea, L. 

Other English names: Lady-fingers, Pop-dock, Scotch Mercury. 

Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : British Columbia, Washington and Oregon ; also in the 

East in Virginia and West Virginia and in Cape Breton Island ; 

casual in New York and New Brunswick. 
Habitat: Meadows and pastures, roadsides, waste places. 

An escape from gardens, and a very grave one, for the plant is very 
poisonous. In the green state, cattle usually leave it untouched to 
reproduce itself, but when cured in hay it becomes a danger to 
animals served with such fodder ; also there is risk that the range 
of the weed may be extended by its transportation in baled hay. 
The plant is medicinal and about forty thousand to sixty thousand 
pounds of its dried leaves are annually imported from Europe at a 
cost of six to eight cents a pound. They should be collected in mid- 



SCROPHULARIACEAE (FIG WORT FAMILY) 



383 



flowering season of the second year of growth, dried with great care 
and be put up in close boxes, safe from moisture. 

Stems stout, erect, round or slightly angled 
near the top, leafy and downy-hairy, two to 
five feet high, appearing in the second year 
of growth. Leaves of the first year all 
basal, forming a dense rosette, spreading flat 
on the ground ; long-ovate, rather thick, 
finely toothed, tapering to petioles ; the upper 
surface dull green and somewhat wrinkled, 
the under side softly hairy and netted with 
prominent veins ; the later stem leaves are 
smaller, alternate and sessile or nearly so. 
Flowers in slender, terminal, one-sided ra- 
cemes, sometimes a foot in length ; corolla a 
swollen pale purple tube, nearly two inches 
long, drooping on a short pedicel, five-lobed, 
the lower lobe finely white-hairy within, the 
throat crimson-spotted ; stamens four, in 
two unequal pairs, included in the corolla. 
Capsule two-celled, ovoid, rather large, con- 
taining many rough, brown seeds. (Fig. 
267.) 

Means of control 

Deep hoe-cutting of base-leaves from the roots ; close cutting of 
flower-stalks before the development of any seeds. 




Fig. 267. — Purple 
Foxglove (Digitalis pur- 
purea). X I. 



COMMON SPEEDWELL 

Veronica officinalis, L. 

Other English names : Fluellin, Ground-hele, Paul's Betony, Upland 

Speedwell. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by stolons. 
Time of bloom : May to August. 
Seed-time: July to October. 
Range: Nova Scotia to Ontario and Michigan, southward to the 

Carolinas and Tennessee. Also native to Europe and Asia. 
Habitat : Dry hillsides and open woods ; pastures, lawns, and waste 

places. 



384 



SCROPHULARIACEAE (FIG WORT FAMILY) 



A frequent weed of upland pastures ; its stoloniferous habit 
causes it to form patches or colonies, crowding out the larger and 
more nutritious forage plants. 

Stems three to ten inches long, softly hairy, usually decumbent 
at the base and rooting at the lower joints, the flowering stalks 
erect. Leaves opposite, or the upper ones 
alternate, obovate to elliptical, a half^nch to an 
inch long, obtuse, softly hairy on both sides, 
finely toothed, the lower ones narrowing to 
short, margined petioles. Flowers in slender, 
spike-like racemes densely crowded on very 
short pedicels ; corolla four-parted, the lower 
lobe less than half as large as the others, pale 
blue or whitish, marked with dark blue or 
violet lines, the whole flower only about a 
quarter-inch broad. Stamens two, one on each 
side of the upper lobe of the corolla, exserted ; 
one slender style with stigma single ; calyx with 
four narrow pointed lobes, longer than the pedi- 
cel. Capsule heart-shaped, two-celled, about an 
eighth of an inch broad, filled with fine, yellow, 
flattened seeds. (Fig. 268.) 

This Speedwell is a medicinal herb, and its 
leaves and flowering tops, collected when the 
plant is in full bloom and carefully dried, are 
worth three to five cents a pound. 




Fig. 268. — Com- 
mon Speedwell (Ve- 
ronica officinalis) . 



Means of control 

In lawns and yards, hoe-cutting and reseed- 
ing ; in fields, cultivation of the ground ; crowding out with 
clover. 



THYME-LEAVED SPEEDWELL 

Veronica serpyllifolia, L. 



Native and introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by 

rooting at the joints. 
Time of bloom: April to October. 



SCROPHULARIACEAE {FIG WORT FAMILY) 385 

Seed-time: Late May until snow-covered. 

Range : Labrador to Alaska, southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 

Habitat: Moist grass lands, waste places. 

One of the commonest of pasture weeds the world over, but so 
small and inconspicuous that it is hardly noticed until it monopo- 
lizes much of the ground. Often called "Creeping Speedwell" 
because it lies so close to the earth, rooting at nearly every joint 
and erecting only its flowering stalks. Much trampling from the 
sharp hoofs of cattle and sheep does it no harm, for, though cut all 
to bits, the fragments take root and continue to grow. 

Stems two to ten inches long, smooth or only slightly hairy, 
branching on all sides from the root. Lower leaves opposite, ovate, 
rounded, nearly smooth, with short petioles; those on the erect 
part of the stems alternate, sessile, narrow, becoming mere lance- 
shaped bracts in the axils of which sit the tiny flowers ; these are 
similar to the preceding species in structure, pale blue or white, 
striped with darker color, and less than a quarter-inch broad. 
Capsules broadly heart-shaped, nearly as large as the flowers, con- 
taining many yellow, flattened seeds as fine as dust. 

Means of control the same as for the Common Speedwell. 



PURSLANE SPEEDWELL 

Veronica peregrina, L. 

Other English names: Neckweed, Winter Purslane. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : April until frost. 

Seed-time: Late May until snow-covered. 

Range: Nova Scotia to British Columbia, southward to the Gulf 

of Mexico. 
Habitat : Gardens, cultivated fields, grasslands, roadsides, and waste 

places. 

This plant was named "neckweed" when it and other members 
of its family were considered good remedies for the scrofulous 
sores that often appeared on the neck ; " Winter Purslane" because 
the abundant seed sown by the plants of the previous summer 
springs so suddenly into life at the disappearance of the winter's 
snow. 

2c 



386 SGROPHULARIACEAE (FIG WORT FAMILY) 

Stem erect, smooth except for a few glandu- 
lar hairs, three inches to a foot high, usually 
branched but may be simple. Lower leaves 
opposite, rather thick, long ovate or oblong, 
obtuse, sharply toothed, with short petioles ; 
upper ones alternate, sessile, entire, narrowly 
oblong to linear, less than a half-inch in 
length. Flowers like the two preceding species 
in structure, solitary and nearly sessile in the 
axils, very pale blue or white, not more than 
a tenth of an inch broad, followed by a 
rounded and notched capsule larger than the 
flower and stuffed with many very fine yellow 
seeds, which are ripening and dropping into 
the soil all summer. (Fig. 269.) 

Means of control 

In cultivated ground tillage should be con- 
tinued later than is usual, for, if not, late- 
FiG. 269. — Purs- grown plants will mature enough seed to keep 
lane Speedwell (Fe- the ground foul. Grasslands badly infested 
should be put under cultivation for one or 
two seasons before reseeding. Cattle eat 
the plant readily, but it is a poor substitute for good grass or 
clover. 

CORN SPEEDWELL 

Veronica arvensis, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: Late March to September. 

Seed-time: May to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minnesota, southward to 

Florida, Texas, and Kansas. 
Habitat: Cultivated ground, waste places. 

This plant frequently begins to flower when less than three 
inches high, at which time the stem is erect and simple ; later it 
branches diffusely from the axils, becoming a rather spreading 
plant, six to eight inches tall. Lower leaves opposite, petioled, 




ronica peregrin a) 



OROBANCHACEAE {BROOM-RAPE FAMILY) 387 

ovate, obtuse at both ends, scallop-toothed ; upper ones alternate, 
sessile, lance-shaped, and entire; stem and foliage softly hairy. 
Flowers axillary, hardly an eighth of an inch broad, pale blue or 
white, on very short pedicels. Capsules heart-shaped, larger than 
the flowers, filled with yellow, minute seeds which are ripened and 
distributed all summer. 

Means of control the same as for Purslane Speedwell. 

FIELD SPEEDWELL 

Veronica agrestis, L. 

Other English names : Germander Chickweed, Winter Weed, Garden 

Speedwell. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to September. 
Seed-time: June to October. 
Range: Nova Scotia to Georgia and Texas. 
Habitat: Fields, gardens, and waste places. 

Stems very slender, three to eight inches long, branching from 
the base, spreading, procumbent, with smaller branches ascending. 
Leaves broadly ovate, obtuse at tips, rounded or heart-shaped at 
base, scallop-toothed, the lower ones opposite and petioled, the 
upper ones alternate and sessile ; the whole plant clothed with fine, 
soft hair. Flowers axillary and single, on very slender, hairy 
peduncles longer than the leaves ; calyx-lobes hairy and larger 
than the corolla, which is pale blue and about a quarter-inch broad. ' 
Capsule heart-shaped, thickened, much broader than long, few- 
seeded. 

Means of control the same as for Purslane Speedwell. 

BRANCHED BROOM-RAPE 

Orobdnche ramosa, L. 

Other English names: Hemp Broom-rape, Tobacco Broom-rape. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and New 

Jersey. 
Habitat : Hemp and tobacco fields ; parasitic on tomatoes in New 

Jersey truck gardens. 



388 OROBANCHACEAE {BROOM-RAPE FAMILY) 

Broom-rapes are parasites, or robber plants, living directly on their 
neighbors by attaching strong haustoria, or suckers, to their roots, 
penetrating the tissues, and absorbing the food materials gathered 
and assimilated by the host plants for their own development. 
This species was brought to this country in imported hemp and to- 
bacco seed, and in like manner its range here is being extended. 

A Broom-rape seedling appears like a mere light-colored, nearly 
transparent thread, without root or any green part, having power to 
push its way into the soil but not to draw any sustenance from it. 
If a suitable host is not found soon after germinating, it shrivels 
and dies ; but if the downward-boring tip comes in contact with 
the host adapted to it, in this case a plant of tobacco or hemp, it 
develops a club-shaped attachment covered with little pegs, or 
suckers, which penetrate and seem to become a part of the host 
plant's root, from which thereafter its life is drawn. At the point 
of juncture a bud is formed and a stem arises, six to fifteen inches 
tall, rather fleshy at base, dividing into several slender branches, 
the whole plant brownish yellow in color, with a few scattered scales 
instead of leaves. The flowers are in spikes terminating the 
branches, sessile or on ver}'- short pedicels, subtended by three or 
fewer small, scale-like bracts ; each blossom has a persistent, four- 
lobed calj'x and an irregular, two-lipped corolla about a half-inch 
long, with yellow tube and pale bluish lips, the upper one two-cleft, 
the lower one more spreading and three-parted ; four stamens, 
inserted on the tube and included ; ovary one-celled, the st^'le very 
long, with two-lipped stigma. Capsule bluntly ovoid, one-celled, 
two-valved, containing an immense number of the most minute 
seeds, which are widely sown by the winds and, though so small, 
are very long-lived, having been known to survive in the soil for 
as many as thirteen years. 

Means of control 

If the infestation is new, it will pay to pull or grub out and de- 
stroy the stalks as fast as they attain to flowering size, in order to 
prevent any development and distribution of seed. Burn all stems 
of tobacco or hemp from infested fields and cultivate some other 
crops on that ground for several seasons. 



OROBANCHACEAE {BROOM-RAPE FAMILY) 389 

CLOVER BROOM-RAPE 

Orohdnche minor, J. E. Smith 

Other English names: Lesser Broom-rape, Chokeweed, Herb-bane. 

Clover Devil, Devil's Root, Hellroot. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to July. 
Seed-time: June to August. 
Range : New Jersey southward to North Carolina ; locally in a 

few places in interior states. 
Habitat: Clover fields. 

This pest, like the preceding species, was brought to this country 
with the seeds of its host plant. The parasite is larger than the 
plant on which it feeds, and its presence in any 
abundance means ruin to the crop. 

Stem brownish yellow, rather stout, softly downy, 
six to eighteen inches in height, without branches ; the 
scales near the base are numerous and overlapping, 
oblong-ovate in shape ; those above are smaller, more 
distant, and acute. Flower-spike three to six inches 
long, rather loose, each blossom subtended by one or 
two lance-shaped bracts nearly as long as itself ; calyx 
cleft to the base above and below, the divisions two- 
parted, with long, awl-like points ; corolla about a half- 
inch in length, with pale brownish yellow tube and 
lips purple-tinged or lilac, the upper one incurved and 
notched, the lower with three spreading, rounded lobes. 
Capsule about a quarter-inch long, crammed with 
abundant dust-like seeds, which, if allowed to ripen, 
are sown far and wide by the winds and which, in 
spite of their small size, have long vitality when in 

the soil. (Fig. 270.) 

Fig. 270. 

Means of control Br^L'-::^. 

Permit no seed to form. Stalks, with the host plants, (Orobancke 

should be pulled as fast as they begin to bloom, and 

be piled with straw or other litter, soaked with oil, and burned. 

Under no circumstances should clover seed or hay from infested 

fields be offered in market; such material should be used up on 



390 OROBANCHACEAE {BROOM-RAPE FAMILY) 

the ground. The crop is best used by turning under for green 
manure, before the parasite matures seed, and clover should be 
left out of rotation on that ground for several years. 

LOUISIANA BROOM-RAPE 

Orobdnche ludovicidna, Nutt. 
{Myzorrhiza ludovicidna, Rydb.) 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-ti7ne: July to September. 

Range: Illinois to the Saskatchewan, southward to California, 

Arizona, and Texas. 
Habitat: Parasitic on several wild plants, but has also attacked 

tobacco. 

This native Broom-rape has a wider range than either 
of its immigrant relatives, but it is only in localities 
suited to the growing of tobacco that it has shown 
itself to be harmful to plants of any value. 

Stems solitary or clustered, sometimes simple but 
usually branched, three inches to a foot in height, 
rather stout, the stalk and the scales covered with 
minute, glandular hairs. Scales lance-shaped, numer- 
ous. Flowers in dense terminal spikes, each subtended 
by one or two bracts ; calyx viscidly glandular, its five 
lobes acute and nearly as long as the tube of the 
corolla : the latter is purplish, slightly curved, and 
constricted above the ovary ; upper lip two-parted, 
lower one with three lobes, pointed and entire. Cap- 
sule ovoid-oblong, two-valved, full of very fine seed. 
Fig. 271. (p- 27I.) 

— Louisiana ^ » ^ 

Broom-rape 

(Orohanche Means of co7itrol 

>< 1 "If the ground is newly infested, the persistent hoe- 

cutting of the parasites from the roots of their hosts 
before any seed can be perfected, piling and burning them with 
oil-soaked straw or other litter, will be well invested labor. After 
the crop is harvested and cured, the stalks should be burned. 
Plant no more tobacco on the infested ground for several seasons. 



PLANTAGINACEAE {PLANTAIN FAMILY) 



391 



COMMON, OR BROAD-LEAVED, PLANTAIN 

Plantdgo major, L. 

Other English names: Greater Plantain, Dooryard Plantain, Bird- 
seed Plantain, Waybread. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : May to September. 
Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Throughout North America except the extreme North. 
Habitat: Yards and lawns, roadsides, and waste places. 

A very persistent intruder in yards and lawns, no doubt because 
of the long vitality of its seeds. Leaves all basal, long ovate, 
entire, obtuse, rounded at base, 
with five to seven prominent length- 
wise veins that all draw together 
into a thick, channeled petiole ; the 
outer row of the spreading tuft 
lies close to the ground, conserving 
moisture for the clustered, fibrous 
roots and choking out grass or 
other plant growth. Flowers on 
slender, cylindrical blunt spikes, 
three inches to a foot or more in 
length, densely crowded, the corollas 
four-lobed, with four stamens in- 
serted on the throat, and a single 
style which protrudes from the bud, 
its stigma withered before its own 
anthers are ripe, thus insuring 
cross-fertilization ; calyx four-parted, 
persistent, subtended by a small 
bract; ovary two-celled. Capsule Fig. 272. — Broad-leaved Plantain 
i, • .1 - {Plantago major). X i- 

a small urn or pyxis, the top 

separating transversely at about the middle; each contains five 
to sixteen seeds. When wet these seeds develop a coat of 
mucilage which helps in their distribution ; they are a fre- 
quent impurity of other seeds, particularly of alsike clover. 
(Fig. 272.) 




392 PLANTAGINACEAE {PLANTAIN FAMILY) 

Means of control 

In lawns these weeds can be destroyed without much deface- 
ment of the sward by treating them with carboHc acid. Stab each 
plant in the center, down to the fibrous cluster of roots, with a stout 
dibble or skewer stick, and squirt in a few drops of the acid with a 
common machine oil-can. Or the plants may be cut out with a 
spud. The best time for either operation is in dry weather, just 
before the spikes appear. In cultivated crops Plantains are not 
very troublesome, as the needed tillage destroys them. 

RED-STEM PLANTAIN 

Plantago Rugelii, Dene. 

Other English names : Pale Plantain, Rugel's Plantain. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range : Maine and Ontario to North Dakota, southward to Florida 

and Texas ; locally established farther west. 
Habitat: Yards and shaded lawns, open woods, and waste places. 

A near relative of the Common Plantain, often growing in its 
company. Leaves similar in form but larger, thinner, pale green, 
with rather long, slender petioles, crimson at the base. Spikes very 
slender, sometimes twenty inches in length, not crowded, tapering 
to a thin point at the summit, and crimson at the base. Flowers 
similar to those of the preceding species but larger, the green 
calyx-lobes sharply keeled. Capsule oblong, nearly cylindric, 
the pyxis opening near the base, within the calyx ; seeds four to 
nine, larger than those of the Common Plantain and more difficult 
of separation from clover and grass seed. 

Means of control the same as for the Common Plantain. 

NARROW-LEAVED PLANTAIN 

Plantago lanceoldta, L. 

Other English names: Rib Grass, Ribwort, Ripple Grass, English 

Plantain, Black Plantain, Buckhorn. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : April to October. 
Seed-time: May to November. 



PLANTAGINACEAE {PLANTAIN FAMILY) 



393 



Range: New Brunswick to the Northwest Territory and Alaska, 

southward to Florida and Kansas. 
Habitat : Grasslands. 

A much more pernicious weed than its broad-leaved relatives; 
they seem to prefer yard and roadside, but this species overruns 
meadows and pastures. Cattle feed on the plant without any 
apparent dislike, though it is stringy 
and somewhat bitter and detracts from 
the quality of the dairy products. 
(Fig. 273.) 

Rootstock short and thick, with many 
branching rootlets. Leaves thickly 
tufted, oblong-lance-shaped, thick, en- 
tire, hairy on both sides with small tufts 
of brownish hair at the base, three- to 
seven-ribbed, tapering to margined peti- 
oles. Scape very slender, strong and 
wiry, five-grooved, hairy; the spike at 
its summit is at first capitate and very 
dense, but lengthens with the procession 
of bloom, becoming cylindric and more 
than an inch long ; calyx-lobes and sub- 
tending bracts greenish brown, scarious. 
Capsule longer than the calyx, slightl}^ 
narrowed upward, the pyxis opening at 
about the middle and containing but 
two seeds, grooved on the inner face, 
produce about a thousand seeds ; these are a very common 
impurity of grass and clover seeds. When wet, the seeds are 
very mucilaginous, a quality which aids their distribution. 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Small areas in lawn or yard may be treated wuth 
carbolic acid after piercing each plant to the root with a skewer or 
pointed stick ; or the weeds may be killed by deep cutting w^ith hoe 
or spud. But rankly infested meadows and pastures should be 
plowed under, and a well-tilled hoed crop inserted in the rota- 
tion before reseeding. 




Fig. 273. — Narrow-leaved 
Plantain (Plantago lanceo- 
lata). X i. 

An average plant will 



394 PLANTAGINACEAE {PLANTAIN FAMILY) 

HOARY PLAINTAIN 
Plantdgo media, L. 

Other English na7nes: Gray Ribwort, Gray Buckhorn, Woolly 

Plantain, Sweet-flowered Plantain. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: May to September. 
Seed-time: June to October, 
Range: Maine to western Ontario, southward to Rhode Island and 

New York. Locally established in many of the Western States. 
Habitat : Grasslands ; yards and waste places. 

A weed that is extending its range very rapidly by the agency of 
grass and clover seeds ; its rootstock is thicker and penetrates more 
deeply than that of the Rib Grass, and it is in other ways even more 
pernicious. Like that plant, its leaves are hairy, but the hairs are 
white, giving it a gray or hoary appearance; they are broadly 
oblong or elliptic, spreading near the ground in rosette form, 
smothering all other growth ; petioles margined, rather short, with 
tufts of brown hair at the base. Scapes slender, one to two feet in 
length, the spikes at the summit one to three inches long, cylindric, 
densely flowered ; the flowers are rather showy, with green scari- 
ous-margined calyx-lobes, four parted white corolla and four large, 
yellowish anthers dangling on purple filaments ; also they are 
sweet-scented. Capsule oblong, obtuse, two- to four-seeded, the 
seeds concave on the face. 

Means of control the same as for Rib Grass. 

LARGE-BRACTED PLANTAIN 

Plantdgo aristdta, Michx. 

Other Engish names : Western Buckhorn, Bristly Buckhorn, Western 

Ripple Grass. 
Native. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to October. 
Seed-time: June to November. 
Range: Ontario to British Columbia and Alaska, southward to 

Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico. Locally established in most 

of the Eastern States and becoming frequent. 
Habitat : Grass and clover fields. 

More prolific than any of the foregoing species, an average plant 
producing about three thousand seeds. The rapid widening of its 



PLANTAGINACEAE {PLANTAIN FAMILY) 



395 



range in recent years is due almost entirely to transportation in 
baled hay and to the impurity of commercial seeds, especially those 
of the red and alsike clovers. 

Leaves densely tufted, linear, long and grass-like, dark green, 
softly hairy, three-nerved, with short, margined petioles, growing 
from a somewhat thickened root which bores straight downward 
into the soil for several inches. Scapes 
erect, eight to fifteen inches high, exceed- 
ing the leaves; spikes densely flowered, 
cylindric, two to six inches in length ; the 
bracts, which subtend the flowers, are a 
half-inch to an inch long, ascending, softly 
hairy. Capsules oblong-ovoid, each con- 
taining two seeds, which are nearly black 
but appear gray from a coat of dried 
mucilage, boat-shaped and hollowed on 
the flattened inner face ; they have also 
a transverse ring around the outer surface 
at the point of opening of the pyxis, the 
seeds falling away with the cover, which 
is winged with the persistent papery co- 
rolla, enabling the seeds to be carried 
a short distance by the wind, so that in 
the second season after its introduction 

the plant is usuallv found covering the 

A ■ A ' 1 • u 1- ^ Fig. 274. — Large- 

ground m dense colonies, chokmg out bracted Plantain (PZanto^o 

nearly all other growth. Also the long aristata). x\. 

vitality of the seeds makes the weed a 

very persistent one when the ground has been once befouled. 

(Fig. 274.) 

Means of control 

The plant is so grass-like that it is not noticeable until the 
flower-spikes appear and these should immediately be cut in order 
to prevent the ripening of any seed. If the infestation is new and 
the area not too great, hand-pulling and burning is the best remedy. 
But land badly seeded will require a series of cultivated crops in 
order to cleanse it. 




396 



RUBIACEAE {MADDER FAMILY) 




Fig. 275. — 
Sandwort Plantain 
(Plantago arena- 
ria). X \. 



SANDWORT PLANTAIN 
Plantago arendria, W. and K. 

Other English names: Whorled Plantain, Sand- 
wort. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: All summer. 

Seed-time: Until bloom is checked by frost. 

Range: Local in several states of the Middle 
West. 

Habitat: Grasslands. 

This is the most lately imported member of 
the Plantain Family, brought to this country in 
clover seed from Central Europe. It is not yet 
sufficiently well known to predict its character 
as a weed, but, judging it by the qualities of 
nearly related plants, its prompt destruction 
wherever noticed may be strongly recommended. 

Stem six to fifteen inches tall, at first simple 
but later diffusely branched, hairy, and some- 
what viscid. Leaves opposite or whorled, linear, 
entire, sessile, one to three inches long. Spikes 
numerous, on slender axillary peduncles some- 
what longer than the leaves ; small and bluntly 
oblong. Capsule contains but one seed, which is 
dark brown, canoe-shaped, and grooved on one 
side- (Fig. 275.) 



BLUE FIELD MADDER 

Sherdrdia arvensis, L. 

Other English names: Spurwort, Herb Sherard. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to July. 

Seed-time: July to August. . ■, , -vt 

Range : Nova Scotia to Ontario and Michigan, southward to New 

Jersey and Ohio. 
Habitat: Clover fields and meadows. 

An immigrant from Europe, brought to this country in impure 
clover seed and increasing its range by the same agency. The fleshy 



RUB I ACE AE {MADDER FAMILY) 



397 



roots, though much inferior to the true Madder, are sometimes 
used for the production of a red dye. 

Stems numerous, tufted, three to ten inches long, some erect 
and some spreading on the ground, very slender, square, and 
rough-hairy on the angles. Leaves about a 
half-inch long, narrow, rough-edged, sharp- 
pointed, sessile, and whorled in fours, fives, or 
sixes. Flowers very small, in dense terminal 
clusters or heads, surrounded by an involucral 
whorl of spiny-pointed, leaf -like bracts ; they 
are blue (sometimes pink), the corollas fun- 
nel-shaped, with four or five spreading lobes, 
and as many stamens as lobes, inserted on 
the tube, the anthers exserted ; style two- 
parted at summit. Ovary below the flower, 
two-celled and two-seeded, forming twin car- 
pels which are indehiscent and crowned by 
the persistent, rough-hairy, four- to six-lobed 
calyx. (Fig. 276.) 

Means of control 

Clover fields and meadows infested with Fig. 276. — Blue 

this weed should be mowed very early, before ^^f^ Madder (Sher- 
„ 1 r> • 1 -x ardia arvensis). X \. 

the formation oi seed. Bemg annual, it can 

thus be driven out in a year or two, if seeds are not allowed to 

foul the ground. 

GOOSE-GRASS, OR CLEAVERS 

Galium Aparme, L. 

Other English names: Scratch Grass, Grip Grass, Cling Rascal, 

Catchweed, Hedgeburs, Sweethearts. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom: May to September. 
Seed-time: July to November. 

Range : New Brunswick to Alaska, southward to Florida and Texas. 
Habitat : Rich soil ; fence rows and thickets. 

A worthless weed, and sometimes a serious pest to the wool- 
grower, who finds the quality of his fleeces cheapened by its tiny 
burs. 




398 



RUBIACEAE {MADDER FAMILY) 



Stems many-branched, ridged, and square, two to 'five feet long, 
very slender and too weak to support themselves, so that they 
clamber over other plants, clinging by means of backward -turning 
prickles on the stem angles. Leaves in whorls of sixes or eights, 
one to two inches long, narrowly spatulate, bristle-pointed, the 
margins and midribs rough with short, stiff hairs. Flowers very 
sj^ small, usually in groups of two to four in the 

.^SiA r *^ V ¥'[U upper axils. Corollas four-lobed, white, with 
four stamens inserted on the tube and two 
styles. Fruits small, twinned globular burs 
about an eighth of an inch broad, covered with 
short, hooked bristles. (Fig. 277.) 

Means of control 

Since the plant is an annual, if Galium thick- 
ets are cleaned out in the spring before the first 
burs form, the ground must soon be rid of their 
presence. 

ROUGH BEDSTRAW 

Galium asprellum, Michx. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Newfoundland to Ontario, Minnesota, 
Fig. 277. — and Nebraska, southward to Missouri and the 

Goose-grass or Carolinas. 

Cleavers {Galium Habitat: Alluvial ground; fence rows, thickets 
Aparine). along streams. 

A vexation to the wool-grower in the autumn, when the vines 
have matured and become brittle; broken bits of the square, 
hooked stems work into and cling to the fleeces of the^heep, often 
transporting whole clusters of the seeds to new ground, from which 
the plants are difficult to dislodge because of their perennial roots. 

Stems two to six feet long, branching from the base, weak and 
reclining on bushes and other plants, clinging by means of down- 
ward-curving bristles on the stem angles. Leaves usually about an 
inch long, whorled in fives or sixes or occasionally in fours, oblong- 




RUB I ACE AE (MADDER FAMILY) 



399 



spatulate, bristle-pointed, the margins and midribs also bristly 
with short, stiff hairs. Flowers similar to the preceding species in 
structure, white, minute but very numerous, in open cymose clusters 
at the ends of the many branches and in the upper axils. The twin 
fruits are smooth. 



Means of control 

Hand-pull the vines when in first bloom. If the patches are not 
too numerous, it will pay to grub out the roots and save further 
trouble. 

SMOOTH BUTTONWEED 

Spermacoce glabra, Michx. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Ohio to Illinois, southward to Florida, 

Arkansas, and Texas. 
Habitat: Wet meadows, banks of streams, 

and ditches. 

Stem ten to twenty inches tall, rather 
stout, smooth, four-sided, sometimes simple 
and erect or often diffusely branched, the 
branches spreading, the lower ones decum- 
bent. Leaves one to three inches long, 
opposite, their bases connected by bristly, 
membranous stipules, entire, elliptic, pointed 
at each end, with smooth surface but rough 
edges. Flowers in dense terminal and axil- 
lary whorled clusters, the corollas funnel- 
form, four-lobed, white, less than a quarter- 
inch long ; stamens four, inserted on the tube ; style two-cleft ; 
calyx also four-lobed, its acute teeth persistently crowning the 
fruit, which is two-celled; when ripe the carpels separate, one 
carrying with it the partition, leaving the other bare on the inner 
face. Seeds small, hard, black, oblong to wedge-shaped, rounded 
on the back, with flat inner face ; too often an impurity of southern 
grass and clover seed. (Fig. 278.) 




Fig. 278. — Smooth 
Buttonweed (Sperma- 
coce glabra). X |. 



400 



RUBIACEAE {MADDER FAMILY) 



Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Harvest infested meadows before the flowers 
mature, particularly if the hay is intended for market. Ground 
badly fouled with the weed should be put under cultivation for the 
purpose of destroying its perennial roots. Good drainage is a dis- 
couragement to the growth of this plant, for it prefers the soil damp. 



ROUGH BUTTONWEED 

Diodia teres, Walt. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Connecticut to Missouri, southward to Florida, Texas, 
and New Mexico. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; cultivated ground, grain and clover fields, road- 
sides, and waste places. 

This plant is very resistant to drought, having a slender taproot, 
often nearly a foot long, fringed with fine feeding rootlets. Stems 

several from the same root, four inches 
to two feet in length, ascending or some- 
times prostrate, usually rough-hairy. 
Leaves opposite, lance-shaped to linear, 
rough-hairy on both sides, acute^ rigid, 
sessile, the margins revolute in dry 
weather. Flowers usually solitary in the 
axils, the corolla funnel-form, five-lobed, 
about a quarter-inch long, pale purple ; 
stamens four, with anthers exserted ; 
style with two-parted stigma. Fruit 
small, obovoid or top-shaped, about one- 
sixth of an inch long, hard and rough- 
hairy, crowned with the Tour persistent 
calyx-teeth ; it has two or occasionally 
three cells, and when ripe usually splits 
These seeds are a frequent impurity of 
southern grain and clover seed ; and the weed is most undesirable 
companv for those crops, as it absorbs much of the soil fertility. 
(Fig. 279.) 




Fig. 279. — Rough Button- 
weed (Diodia teres). X i. 

into two closed carpels. 



CAPRIFOLIACEAE {HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY) 



401 



Means of control 

Mow infested meadows before the development of seed ; enrich 
the soil for the encouragement of the clover, aiding it to crowd out 
the intruder. As soon as the crop is removed from corn and potato 
ground, sow with winter annuals. Follow grain with a crop re- 
quiring frequent and late-continued hoe-culture. 



HORSE GENTIAN 

Triosteum perfolidtum, L. 

Other English names : Feverwort, Wild 
Ipecac, Wild Coffee, Tinker's Weed. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by- 
seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to June. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Massachusetts to Minnesota 
and Nebraska, southward to Ala- 
bama and Kansas. 

Habitat: Rich soil; borders of fields, 
thickets, open woods. 

A plant formerly in high esteem for 
its medicinal qualities, but now merely 
a weed. Stem two to four feet tall, 
erect, simple, softly hairy, and some- 
what viscid. Leaves three to eight 
inches in length, opposite, joined at 
the base, ovate, pointed, entire, softly 
hairy, tapering to margined, connate 
petioles. Flowers axillary, sessile, 
single or clustered, brownish purple ; corolla tubular, more than 
a half-inch long, with five unequal lobes, five stamens inserted 
on the tube, with bearded filaments and included anthers ; style 
usually three-parted ; calyx-lobes very narrow, long-pointed, per- 
sistent. Ovary three-celled, the fruit an orange-red drupe, nearly 
a half-inch long, containing three bony nutlets. (Fig. 280.) 

Means of control 

Close cutting below the crown before any fruits mature. 
2d 




Fig. 280. — Horse Gentian 
{Triosteum perfoliatum). X \. 



402 



VALERIAN ACE AE {VALERIAN FAMILY) 



CORN SALAD 

Valerianella Locusta, Betcke. 

Other English na7nes : Lamb's Lettuce, Milk Grass. 

Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: April to July. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range: Maine to Ontario, and southward to Virginia. 

Habitat: Old fields, meadows, and waste places. 



This plant is an immigrant from Europe and an escape from 
gardens, where it was cultivated for salads and greens under the 

names of Fetticus, Veticost, and White 
Potherb. It is very hardy, enduring cold 
so well that in mild climates or mild 
winters it can be gathered and used 
throughout that season, a quality that 
helps it to survive many hardships as 
a weed. (Fig. 281.) 

Stems six inches to a foot high, 
branching by repeated forking. Leaves 
opposite, pale green, succulent, tender, 
the lower ones growing in a tuft about 
the base of the stalk, blunt-pointed or 
rounded at the tips, tapering toward 
the base ; stem-leaves sessile, smaller, 
and more pointed. Flowers very tiny, 
growing in small, flat clusters hardly a 
half-inch broad ; the corollas pale blue 
or violet, funnel form, wdth five spread- 
ing unequal lobes ; stamens usually three, 
and style with three-lobed stigma. 
Seeds very small, contained in a three- 
celled capsule of which two cells are 
always empty. Another species, six to 
eighteen inches tall with white flowers, 
known as the Beaked Corn Salad {Valerianella radiata, Dufr.), 
ranges from Massachusetts to Minnesota and southward to Texas 
and Florida, infesting low meadows and other moist soils. Cattle 




Fig. 281. — Corn Salad {Va- 
lerianella Locusta). 



DIPSACACEAE {TEASEL FAMILY) 



403 



eat these weeds readily, but they are less nutritious than grasses 
and do not make good hay. The seeds are said to retain their 
vitaUty for about five years when buried in the soil. 

Means of control 

Prevent production of seed by early and frequent cutting. 
Where practicable, put the ground under cultivation for a season 
in order to stir dormant seeds into life and destroy them with the 
needed tillage. 

TEASEL 

Dipsacus sylvestris, Huds. 

Other English names : Card Thistle, Water 

Thistle, Gipsy Combs. 
Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by 

seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Maine and Ontario to Virginia, 

westward to Michigan. 
Habitat: Pastures, roadsides, fence rows, 

and waste places. 

Stems stout, erect, strongly ridged, 
branching, beset with spines, three to six 
feet tall, springing from a stout taproot 
often more than a foot long with many 
feeding rootlets. Root-leaves of the pre- 
vious year's growth tufted in a broad and 
very flat rosette, oblong to lance-shaped, 
obtuse, tapering at the base, scallop- 
toothed, the surface wrinkled and deep 
green except the veins and midrib, which 
are nearly white and beset with spines ; 
stem-leaves opposite and often united at the base, forming cups 
which retain water, the rigid midribs spiny on the under side. 
Flowers in large, dense, solitary heads, sometimes nearly four inches 
long and two inches in thickness, protected by long, upcurving, 
spiny involucral bracts and lifted on long, spiny peduncles, terminal 
and axillary; corollas lilac or pinkish purple, tubular, four-lobed, 




Fig. 282. — Wild Teasel 
(Dipsacus sylvestris). X f. 



404 CUCURBIT ACE AE {GOURD FAMILY) 

fragrant, each subtended by a chaffy bract tapering to an awn 
longer than the flower ; stamens four, inserted on the tube of the 
corolla ; ovary inferior, one-celled. Some flower communities pro- 
gress in their bloom from the base upward, others from the top 
downward ; but Teasels girdle the middle of the heads with the 
first flowers and proceed both ways, though the last flowers of 
September are likely to be as round as clover-heads and produce 
all their blossoms at once with an air which says, "Time's up ! All 
out !" Fruit a hard, wedge-shaped, square, black, grooved achene, 
about a quarter-inch long. (Fig. 282.) 

Means of control 

Cut first-year rosettes from the roots with sharp hoe or spud, 
in autumn or early spring. Flowering stalks should be pulled or 
closely cut before the earliest heads ripen seed. 

WILD GOURD 

Cucurhita foetidissima, H. B. K. 
{Cucurbita perennis, Gray) 

Other English names: Missouri Gourd, Calabazilla, Fetid Wild 

Pumpkin. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hlooin : April to July. 
Seed-time: July to November. 

Range : Nebraska to California, southward to Texas and Mexico. 
Habitat : Dry or sandy soil ; fields and waste places. 

Root yellow inside, carrot-like, very thick and fleshy, often more 
than six inches in diameter and sometimes exceeding five feet in 
length. Stem stout, angled, ridged, rough-hairy, many-branched, 
fifteen to twenty-five feet long, trailing and rooting at the joints or 
climbing by means of branching tendrils. Leaves alternate, rather 
thick, four inches to a foot in length, ovate-triangular, long-pointed, 
usually truncate at base or sometimes heart-shaped, rough above, 
gray-hairy beneath, sharply toothed, with rough-hairy petioles less 
than half as long as the blades. The whole plant has a disagree- 
able, fetid odor, especially when bruised. Flowers solitary in the 
axils and unisexual ; calyx five-lobed, ridged, and bristly ; corolla 



CUCURBITACEAE {GOURD FAMILY) 405 

bright yellow, bell-shaped, three or four inches long and nearly as 
broad, deeply five-lobed with pointed and recurving tips, ridged, 
veined, and bearded inside and out; sterile flowers have three 
stamens, two of which have two-celled anthers, the other one- 
celled ; fertile flowers have one pistil, with short, thick style and 
three-lobed stigmas. Ovary three celled, the fruit globose or 
broadly ovoid, about three inches in diameter, with a hard, smooth 
rind, yellow or pale green variegated with yellow, the pulp 
within fibrous and very bitter, the seeds numerous, oval, flattened, 
and lying horizontally in the triple cells. 

Means of control 

These troublesome plants are most readily and certainly de- 
stroyed by strong hot brine, caustic soda, or carbolic acid, applied 
to the crown of the huge, fleshy root. 

STAR CUCUMBER 

Sicyos anguldtus, L. 

Other English names: Nimble Kate, One-seeded Bur Cucumber. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time : August to October. 

Range: Quebec to Minnesota, southward to Florida and Texas. 
Habitat : Moist, rich soil ; banks of streams, fence rows, thickets, 
waste places. 

A vine of amazingly rapid growth; Dr. Coulter mentions one 
that climbed up a neighboring tree to a distance of sixty-three feet. 
Sometimes, on bottom lands which have been flooded, many seeds 
lie dormant until the ground is put under cultivation, when they 
suddenly spring to life, binding corn or tobacco rows or other vege- 
tation into tangled thickets. 

Stem pale green, slender but very tough and fibrous, angled, 
more or less viscidly hairy. Leaves very large (the lower ones 
sometimes ten inches across), alternate, thin, rough on both sides, 
heart-shaped at base, five-nerved and five-pointed, finely and 
sharply toothed, with rather short, hairy petioles ; opposite each leaf 
is a three- to five-parted and spirally curled tendril, on a much 



406 



CUCURBITACEAE {GOURD FAMILY) 



longer petiole. Flowers monoecious, 
the staminate ones in small racemes 
on long, slender, axillary peduncles ; 
calyx cup-shaped, five-toothed ; co- 
rolla with five lobes united at base, 
white striped with green ; the three 
stamens united and the anthers 
cohering in a small, club-like mass ; 
below, but in the same axils, are the 
smaller pistillate flowers, in rounded 
clusters on much shorter peduncles. 
Ovary one-celled, the style short and 
slender with three stigmas ; fruits in 
clusters of three to ten, each con- 
taining a single seed, ovoid, covered 
with prickly, barbed bristles ; the 
arrangement of the clusters is often 
star-shaped. (Fig. 283.) 

Fig. 283. — Star Cucumber {Si- Means of control 
cyos angulatus) . X ^. 

When the weed invades a field, or 
in any place where its growth is harmful, the roots should be cut 
from the stem or jerked from the soil, leaving the vines to relax 
and wither, for it is useless to try to untangle the clinging tendrils. 




CLIMBING WILD CUCUMBER 

Echinocystis lohdta, T. & G. 
{Micrdmpelis lohdta, Greene) 

Other English names: Wild Balsam Apple, Mock Apple, Four- 

seeded Bur Cucumber. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Nova Scotia to the Saskatchewan, southward to Georgia 

and Colorado. 
Habitat : Rich soil ; fence rows, thickets, and along streams. 

A rapid climber, often cultivated as a quick shade for an arbor 
or as a cover for some eyesore of fence or building. Stem fifteen 



CUCURBITACEAE {GOURD FAMILY) 



407 



to thirty feet long, angular, grooved, smooth except for a few hairs 
at the joints. Leaves alternate thin, pale green, slightly rough 
on both sides with five triangular, pointed lobes or occasionally 
three- or seven-lobed, with slim, 
rather short petioles ; opposite 
each leaf a three-forked tendril 
with a much longer footstalk. 
Flowers of two kinds, the stami- 
nate ones in lon^ compound axil- 
lary racemes, the corollas deeply 
five- to six-parted, star-shaped, 
white, and fragrant ; stamens 
three, with cohering anthers ; 
below, in the same axil, are the 
inconspicuous pistillate flowers, 
usually solitary, but sometimes 
in twos or threes ; ovary two- 
celled, with slender style and 
broad, hemispheric stigma. 
Fruit ovoid, nearly two inches 
long, covered with weak spines, 
two-celled, each cavity contain- 
ing two rough-coated seeds 
nearly an inch in length ; these 
seeds are discharged somewhat 
forcibly by the sudden bursting of the "apple" at the top. 
(Fig. 284.) 




Fig. 284. — Climbing Wild Cucumber 

(Echinocystis lohata). X \. 



Means of control 

The plant is seldom a nuisance except when spreading in home 
grounds. There the pistillate flowers should be nipped out before 
maturity — unless one prefers to pull cucumber seedlings from 
several outlying yards of ground for several seasons. Occasion- 
ally it may be found, like the preceding species, invading bottom 
land corn and tobacco fields. There it should receive the same 
treatment as recommended for Nimble Kate, of course before the 
first of the prickly " balsam apples " approach maturity. 



408 



GAMP ANUL ACE AE {BLUEBELL FAMILY) 



VENUS'S LOOKING-GLASS 

Speculdria perfolidta, A. DC. 
{Legoiizia perfolidta, Britton) 

Other English name: Clasping Bell-flower. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to August. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range: Ontario to British Columbia, southward to Florida and 

Mexico. 
Habitat : Sterile open ground ; thin meadows, upland pastures. 

Grazing cattle do not like the taste of this plant, and it is usually 
left to reproduce itself, even where good forage is scarce — as it is 
likely to be on ground preferred by the weed. 

Stem six to eighteen inches long, slender, weak 
and usually prostrate, with rough-hairy angles or 
sometimes smooth, simple or branching near the base, 
very leafy. Leaves alternate, rounded or broadly 
ovate, clasping the stem by a heart-shaped base, the 
edges rather finely toothed. Flowers sessile in the 
axils, solitary or sometimes in twos or threes ; the 
lower and earlier ones are rudimentary, without 
corolla, and these never open but are self-fertilized in 
the bud, producing much seed which is often ripened 
and sown before the upper flowers expand their five- 
lobed, violet-blue corollas, which are also fertile; 
stamens five with thin, flattened filaments, shorter 
than the anthers ; style with three-lobed stigma. 
Capsule oblong or narrowly top-shaped, three-celled, 
splitting below the middle. Seed brown, lens-shaped, 
often an impurity of clover and grass seed. (Fig. 285.) 



Fig. 285. 
— Venus's 
Looking- 
glass (Spe- 
cularia per- 
foliata) . 
Xi. 



Means of control 

Enrich the ground by liming, manuring, and fur- 
nishing it with humus, which will enable it to retain 
moisture and support the growth of better plants. 
Hand-pulling of small and newly infested areas is a 
paying operation but the work must be done before the develop- 
ment of the inconspicuous early flowers. 



CAMPANULACEAE {BLUEBELL FAMILY) 409 

CREEPING BELLFLOWER 

Campanula rapunculoides, L 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of hloom: July to August. 

Seed-time: August to September. 

Range : New Brunswick to Ontario, southward to Pennsylvania and 

Ohio. 
Habitat: Fields and roadsides. 

An escape from gardens. The plant does all its "creeping" 
underground by means of slender, horizontal rootstocks. Above 
ground it sends up numerous stems one to three feet tall, rather 
stout, smooth or sometimes finely hairy, 
simple or with one or two branches near 
the top. Leaves alternate, long-pointed 
ovate, heart-shaped at base, irregularly 
toothed, the lower ones with petioles, the 
upper ones sessile, diminishing in size as 
they ascend the stalk. Flowers in a slen- 
der, one-sided, bracted raceme, each corolla 
a large, five-pointed, nodding, purple bell, 
an inch or more long, the "clapper" be- 
ing its long, white style with three-cleft, 
curving stigma ; stamens five, alternate 
with the corolla lobes. The flowers unfold 
from the base upward, leaving behind a 
string of globular, three-celled smooth cap- 
sules, opening by three valves at the base. 
Seeds small and very numerous. (Fig. 286.) 

Means of control 

The plant forms spreading patches, which, 
if not too large, may be grubbed out, care 
being taken to get every shred of the root- 
stocks ; or the latter may be starved by 
close and repeated cuttings throughout the 
growing season, salt being used on the shorn Ben'fTowef ' (7ampa^Lta 
surfaces in order to check new growth. rapunmloides) . x i. 




410 LOBELIACEAE {LOBELIA FAMILY) 

TALL BELLFLOWER 

Campanula americdna, L. 

Native. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom,: June to August. 

Seed-time: August to September. 

Range: New Brunswick to South Dakota, southward to Georgia, 

Arkansas, and Kansas. 
Habitat : Moist, rich soil ; woodland borders, thickets along streams, 

damp grasslands. 

One of the most stately and handsome of our wild flowers, a 
weed only when it enters the meadows and pastures. Stem erect, 
slender, finely grooved, sometimes attaining six feet in height but 
oftener two or three feet tall, usually simple but sometimes with 
slender ascending branches. Leaves large, thin, dark green, the 
lower ones ovate with rounded or abruptly narrowed bases and 
petioles nearly half as long as the blades, the upper ones oblong 
to lance-shaped, short-petioled or sessile ; all toothed and pointed, 
rather drooping on the stalk. Flowers in terminal racemes one 
to two feet long, interrupted and leafy ; corolla pale blue or almost 
white, about an inch broad, the five deep lobes spread nearly 
wheel-shaped, their edges slightly wavy ; style very much exserted 
and declined, with its three-cleft tip curved upward. Capsule 
three-celled, slenderly top-shaped, smooth, erect, sessile, opening by 
valves near the summit. 

Means of control 

Close cutting before the earliest flowers mature. 

GREAT LOBELIA 

Lobelia syphilitica, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagated by seeds and by short offsets. 
Time of bloom : July to October. 
Seed-time: August to November. 

Range : Maine and Ontario to South Dakota and Colorado, south- 
ward to Georgia and Louisiana. 
Habitat : Swamps, wet meadows, and along streams and ditches. 

Like all its family, the juices of this plant are acrid and poison- 
ous. Stem one to three feet tall, rather stout, slightly angled, 



LOBELIACEAE {LOBELIA FAMILY) 411 

usually without branches. Leaves large, alternate, thin, dark green, 
oblong, pointed at both ends, somewhat hairy, irregularly and 
rather finely toothed, sessile except the lowermost. Flowers in 
narrow, crowded, leafy, bracted racemes sometimes six inches or 
more in length, deep blue or occasionally white ; corolla nearly an 
inch long, the tube cleft to the base on the upper side, the two 
lobes of its upper lip acute but the three lower ones longer and 
somewhat obtuse; stamens five, united into a tube around the 
style, with three of the anthers larger than the other two ; calyx 
hairy, with narrow, long-pointed lobes, the sinuses with large, 
deflexed auricles. The many-seeded, two-celled capsules float 
easily on water. 

Means of control 

Hand-pulling or grubbing from pastures and meadows. Drain- 
age will usually expel the plant from the soil, for it demands 
moisture. 

INDIAN TOBACCO 

Lobelia infldta, L. 

Other English names: Wild Tobacco, Asthma Weed, Bladder-pod, 

Gag-root, Pukeweed, Emetic Root. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to November. 
Seed-time : August until the ground is snow-covered. 
Range : Labrador to the Northwest Territory, southward to Georgia, 

Arkansas, and Nebraska. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; meadows, pastures, and grain fields. 

A very poisonous plant, and medicinally valuable ; collectors 
receive twenty cents a pound for the seeds and three to eight 
cents a pound for dried leaves and tops. Grazing animals seem 
to know the quality of its acrid, milky juices, and usually leave 
the weed untouched; but sometimes its young shoots are eaten 
and cause a sickness known as "slobbers." The writer knows, 
from the foolhardy experiments of childhood, that the chewing of a 
single green "bladder-pod" will constrict the muscles of the throat 
and bring on most unpleasant throes of nausea. (Fig. 287.) 

Stem six inches to two feet high, rather stout, with many short 



412 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




Fig. 287.— 
Indian Tobacco 
{Lobelia inflata) . 



and slender branches held nearly erect, the whole 
plant finely rough-hairy. Leaves alternate, thin, 
light green, long oval, with blunt, irregular teeth, 
the lower ones narrowed to short petioles, the 
upper ones much smaller and sessile. Flowers in 
spike-like bracted racemes, similar in structure to 
the preceding species, but much smaller, the co- 
rollas less than a half-inch long and pale blue ; 
capsule much inflated, containing many small 
dark brown seeds. 

Means of control 

Hand-pulling in pastures and meadows. Sur- 
face cultivation of stubbles after harvest. Im- 
provement of the soil by liming, manuring, and 
cultivation, which will enable better plants to 
smother the weed. 

TALL IRONWEED OR FLAT-TOP 

Vernbnia altissima, Nutt. 

{Vernonia gigantea, Britton) 

{Vernbnia maxima, Small) 



Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: New York to Michigan and Illinois, southward to Mis- 
souri, Louisiana, and Alabama. 
Habitat : Prairies ; meadows, pastures, and roadsides. 



This great weed is the despair of the prairie farmer, who sees it 
take possession of his rich soil, appropriating most of the food and 
moisture and crowding out the grasses ; the plant is rejected by all 
grazing animals, even sheep. 

Stem four to ten feet tall, erect, strong and woody, branching 
near the top, springing from roots like thick, fibrous cords, forming 
a huge tassel at the base of the stalk and penetrating in all direc- 
tions. Leaves alternate, narrow lance-shaped, thin, dark green, 
pointed at both ends, finely toothed, sessile, usually smooth on 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



413 



both sides. Heads in large, rather iSM--^>. 

loose, terminal cymose clusters, deep 
reddish purple ; florets all perfect 
and fertile with tubular, five-lobed 
corollas ; stamens five, united in a 
tube about the cleft-tipped style, a 
characteristic of all composites ; in- 
volucre top-shaped, purple-tinged, its 
bracts imbricated in several series, 
closely appressed. Achenes bristly 
ribbed, with a double pappus, the 
outer row of short, very stiff, scale- 
like bristles, the inner row much 
longer, of many fine, rough hairs. 
(Fig. 288.) 

Means of control 

In cultivated crops the perennial 
roots are destro^-ed by the plow and 
the following tillage, but in land 
where there is danger of washing, or 
which for other reasons is not desired 
to be put under cultivation, the 
grubbing-hoe or the scythe must be Fig. 288. — Tall Ironweed (7er- 
persistently used. Cut closely in nonia altissima) . xi\. 

May, repeating in June, and again in August and September, 
thus preventing all seed development and exhausting the roots 
of all sustenance supplied by the leaf-growth. 




WESTERN IRONWEED 

Vernbnia fasciculdta, Michx. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Ohio to South Dakota, southward to New Mexico and 

Texas. 
Habitat: Prairies, hillsides, woodland borders, meadows, pastures, 

roadsides, and waste places. 



414 



GOMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




Fig. 289. — Western Iron- 
weed (Vernonia fasciculata) . 



Habitat : Dry prairies ; 
waste places. 



Stems two to six feet tall, erect, 
smooth, usually simple. Leaves alter- 
nate, narrow lance-shaped to linear, 
numerous, ascending, sometimes finely 
hairy on the upper surface but smooth 
beneath, sessile, finely toothed. Heads 
very many, rather small, in a compact 
cymose cluster, each containing about 
twenty florets, deep reddish purple ; 
involucre bell-shaped, its bracts closely 
appressed. Achenes smooth, the pappus 
purple-tinged. (Fig. 289.) 

Means of control the same as for 
Tall Ironweed. 



ILLINOIS IRONWEED 



Vernonia illinoensis, Gleason 



Native. Perennial. Propagates by 
seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Ontario to Minnesota, south- 
ward to Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa, 
meadows and pastures, roadsides, and 



Stem three to six or more feet tall, rather stout, somewhat 
rough. Leaves large, oblong lance-shaped, finely woolly-hairy 
above and rough to the touch beneath, sharply toothed. Heads 
in a densely crowded cymose cluster, many^^^bf them sessile or on 
very short pedicels, rather large, each containing about forty red- 
dish purple florets ; involucre bell-shaped, its bracts purple- 
tinged, obtuse, closely appressed. Achenes slightly rough-ribbed, 
the pappus purplish brown. Both pollen and nectar are plenti- 
fully supplied by all the Ironweeds, and bumblebees and many 
species of butterflies are attracted by the flowers, thus assuring 
their thorough cross-fertilization. 

Means of control the same as for Tall Ironweed. 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



415 



WOOLLY ELEPHANT'S FOOT 

Elephdntopus tomentbsus, L. 

Other English names: Tobacco Weed, Devil's Grandmother. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Virginia to Arkansas, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. 
Habitat : Rich moist soils ; woodlands ; tobacco, corn, and cotton 
fields. 

This weed is fond of shade and makes itself a special nuisance in 
tobacco fields, where the tall plants overshadow it, while its broad, 
basal, tufted leaves and deep roots absorb much of the soil's fertility 
and are difficult to remove without injury to the crop, of which 
the larger, lower leaves are the 
most valuable part, and must be 
guarded asmuchaspossibleagainst 
any mutilation. (Fig. 290.) 

Stem erect, rigid, hairy, one to 
two feet high, simple or with a 
few forking branches. Lower 
leaves four to ten inches long, 
two to four inches wide, and 
spread flat on the ground ; they 
are broadly obovate, blunt- 
pointed, tapering to the base, 
heavily veined, scallop-toothed, 
and softly woolly-hairy all over. 
Simple stems are usually leafless, 
but where forked there is a small, 
sessile, lance-shaped leaf. Heads 
two- to five-flowered, the florets 
all alike, fertile, tubular, five- 
lobed but deeply cleft on the 
inner side, pale purple. Below 
each head are three heart-shaped, 
large, leaf-like, and hairy bracts. 

Achenes oblong, ten-ridged, with p,^ 290. -Hairy Elephant's Foot 
a pappus of stiff, slender bristles. (ElephatUopua tommtosus). x J. 




416 COMPO SITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Means of control 

In crops where thorough and late cultivation may be practiced, 
this weed is not difficult of suppression ; but in tobacco fields, 
where care must be exercised in order to keep the large lower 
leaves of the crop uninjured, late tillage is a danger, and hand- 
pulling is the only practicable way of destroying late-blooming 
plants before the development of seed. 



JOE-PYE WEED 

Ewpatbrium purpureum, L. 

Other English 7iames: Trumpetweed, Feverweed, Purple Boneset, 

Queen-of-the-Meadow, Gravel-root, Kidney-root. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : August to September. 
Seed-time: September to November. 

y;ni^(^j?^ Range : New Brunswick to Manitoba, 

southward to Florida and Texas. 
Habitat: Damp meadows, moist woods 
and thickets, sides of streams and 
ditches. 



Joe Pye was an Indian "herb doctor '* 
of early days in New England, who is 
said to have performed many marvelous 
cures, mostly with decoctions of this 
herb. However that may be, its woody, 
fibrous, blackish roots, gathered in au- 
tumn and carefully dried, are still sal- 
able in the drug market for two to four 
cents a pound. 

Stem round, smooth or sometimes 
finely grooved, slender for its height of 
three to ten feet, usually purple, simple 
or with a few branches at the top. 
Leaves arranged in whorls of three to 
six, long-ovate, thin, smooth except for 
a slight hairiness of the veins beneath, 
finely scallop-toothed, tapering to short, 
slim petioles. Heads small, in rather 




Fig. 291 . — Joe-Pye Weed 
(Eupatorium purpureum) . 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 417 

long, round-topped, corymbose clusters, pinkish purple, fragrant; 
the florets all tubular and perfect. Achenes very small, black, 
angled, with a funnel-shaped pappus of fine, bristly hairs. The 
plant is often accompanied by a nearly related variety, the 
Spotted Joe-pye Weed {E. viacidatum, L.), differing in that it 
has rough-hairy leaves and stem, green and more or less spotted 
with purple; heads similar, but with broader, flatter cluster 
and the root also is medicinally valuable. (Fig. 291.) 

Means of control 

Only grubbing out bodily or repeated deep cutting throughout 
the growing season will rid grasslands of this weed. Plants on 
waste grounds and in thickets should also be prevented from seed 
production. 

THOROUGHWORT 

Ewpatbrium perfolidtum, L. 

Other English names: Boneset, Agueweed, Feverwort, Crosswort, 
Sweating Plant, Vegetable Antimony. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time : September to November. 

Range: New Brunswick to Manitoba and North Dakota, south- 
ward to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat: Wet meadows, swamps, sides of streams, and ditches. 

A near relative of Joe-Pye Weed, and also used in medicine, 
the parts desired being the flowering tops, gathered when in full 
bloom, and the leaves, stripped from the stalks and quickly dried, 
for which collectors receive three to eight cents a pound. 

Stem two to five feet tall, rather stout, hairy, branching at the 
top. Leaves deep green, long-pointed, opposite, and united at the 
base, seeming like a single leaf through which the stem has grown, 
downy beneath, somewhat wrinkled, prominently veined, finely 
scallop-toothed. Heads very small, in rather compact corymbose 
clusters, dull white or very rarely blue, the florets all perfect and 
fertile ; as they mature, the lengthening and expanding hairy para- 
chutes of the achenes make the clusters appear like fleecy tufts 
of wool. 

Means of control the same as for Joe-Pye Weed. 
2e 



418 COMPOSITAE (.COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



WHITE SNAKEROOT 

Eupatorium urticoefdlium, Reichard 
{Eupatorium ageratoides, L. f.) 

Other English names: White Sanicle, Indian Sanicle, Nettle-leaved 

Sanicle, Deerwort Boneset. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to October. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: New Brunswick to Ontario and Nebraska, southward to 

Georgia, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. 
Habitat : Open woods, thickets along streams. 

This plant was long suspected of causing in grazing animals a 
peculiar disease, called "Trembles" from the muscular tremors 
always noted as a symptom ; in turn, if a person ate the milk or 
the butter or the meat from an animal so affected, a disorder known 
as "Milk Sickness" resulted, which was often fatal and is said to 
have caused the death of the mother of Abraham Lincoln. But 
in 1908, on a sudden outbreak of this disease in Illinois, the De- 
partment of Poisonous Plant Investigations at Washington ^ was 
asked to look into the matter, and the power for injury of White 
Snakeroot was thoroughly tested on several species of animals ; 
and finally, convinced of its harmlessness, the chemist experi- 
mented on himself, with no bad effects. So the plant stands 
acquitted. Still, some residents of affected localities say, "When 
Snakeroot is cleaned out, so are Trembles and Milk Sickness," 
which is certainly a good thing, and better plants take its place. 

Stem very slender, much branched, smooth or nearly so, one to 
four feet tall. Leaves opposite, broadly ovate, pointed, large, 
thin, smooth, coarsely and sharply toothed, three-nerved, with 
long, slender petioles. Heads in large, compound, corymbose 
clusters, snowy white, each about a quarter-inch broad, the florets 
tubular, five-lobed ; the rather long-pointed lobes .of the corollas 
and elongated style branches give the flowers a soft, fringy ap- 
pearance, somewhat like the garden Ageratum. 

Means of suppression the same as for Joe-Pye Weed. 

1 The Supposed Relationship of White Snakeroot to Milk Sickness or " Trem- 
bles." 

Bull. No. 121, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 419 

MIST FLOWER 

Ewpatbrium codestinum, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of blootn : August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: New Jersey to Illinois and Kansas, southward to Florida 

and Texas. 
Habitat: Rich soil ; moist meadows and thickets. 

Stems one to three feet tall, finely appressed-hairy, branching 
at the top. Leaves opposite, triangular ovate, truncate or heart- 
shaped at base, coarsely and bluntly toothed, with prominent 
veins and rather short petioles. Heads in rather compact corym- 
bose clusters, each less than a quarter-inch across but very numer- 
ous, light blue or violet, the florets five-lobed and perfect. Achenes 
oblong, five-angled, the pappus a single funnel-formed row of 
tawny bristles. 

Means of control the same as for Joe-Pye Weed. 

FALSE BONESET 

Kiihnia eupatorioldes, L. 

Other English name: Plume-seed. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: August to September. 

Seed-time: September to October. 

Range: New Jersey to Ohio, and southward to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat: Dry meadows and pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 

Patches of this w^eed are very conspicuous in autumn because 
of the showy, plumose heads of seed. Stem two to three feet tall, 
springing from a large, deep-boring root, erect, finely hairy, resin- 
ous, branching at the top. Leaves alternate, specked with resin- 
ous dots, those near the base lance-shaped, sparingly toothed, 
three-nerved, and short-petioled, becoming gradually linear, entire, 
and sessile as they ascend the stalk. Florets all perfect, the 
corollas very slender and deeply five-toothed, white or cream- 
colored, the heads very numerous, in loosely clustered terminal 
panicles. Achenes oblong, small, brown, ten-ribbed, attached to a 



420 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




Fig. 292. — False 
Boneset {Kuhnia eu- 
patorioides) . X j. 



pappus of numerous long and very plumy 
hairs, yellowish to nearly white. (Fig. 292.) 
A near relative of the preceding plant, 
the Prairie False Boneset (Kuhnia gluti- 
nosa, Ell.) ranges from Illinois to the Dakotas 
and southward to Alabama and Texas. It 
is similar in habit and in season of bloom and 
fruitage, but is taller and stouter, more hairy, 
and has foliage somewhat viscid or sticky as 
well as resinous. Its pappus plumes are 
tawny brown. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed formation by cutting when 
in first bloom. Cultivation of the soil will 
kill the perennial roots, but, where that is 
not desirable, frequent hoe-cutting and salt- 
ing will starve them. Or the plants may be 
hand-pulled when the ground is soft, the 
single taproot making the process easy. 

BROAD-LEAVED GUM PLANT 

Grindelia squarrosa, Dunal 



Other English names: Gum weed, Scaly Grindelia. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Illinois and Minnesota to the Saskatchewan, southward to 

Texas and Mexico, and westward to California. 
Habitat: Meadows, grain fields, waste places, and roadsides. 

This weed was formerly common only on the western prairies, 
but unrestricted exchange of commercial seeds has carried it into 
many of the Eastern States as an impurity of grass seeds and 
grain. It is very persistent when established in meadow lands 
and is a serious injury to the crop. The leaves and flowering tops 
of the weed are official in the United States Pharmacopoeia, and, 
if collected when the flowers are just coming into full bloom and 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



421 



cents a 
, freely 



quickly dried, are worth in the drug market five to ten 
pound. 

Stem and branches somewhat reddish, smooth, erect 
branching, ten inches to two feet high. 
Leaves alternate, oblong or the lower 
ones spatulate, blunt-pointed, sessile, 
more or less clasping at the base, 
spinescently toothed. Heads terminal, 
solitary, about an inch broad, resinously 
viscid ; bracts of the involucre imbri- 
cated in several rows, awl-tipped, green, 
spreading, and recurved ; the outer 
row of strap-shaped or ray florets are 
pistillate and fertile, disk florets per- 
fect. Achenes light-colored, short,thick, 
slightly flattened and curved, obscurely 
four-sided, marked with lengthwise lines 
or ribs ; pappus consists of two or 
three barbed awns. (Fig. 293.) 

Means of control 

Sow clean seed. Prevent reproduction 
by cutting before any seed has ripened. 
Where the infestation is new and areas 
are small, grubbing out or hand-pulling 

of the perennial roots is well worth the ^ ^ ^ „ 

, , \ ^ ,, • i? X 1 n 1 1 Fig. 2 9 3. — Broad-leaved 

labor; but rankly mtested helds re- Gum-plant (Grindelia squar- 

quire to be put under cultivation. rosa). x \. 




NARROW-LEAVED GUM PLANT 

Grindelia lanceoldta, Nutt. 



Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to August. 

Seed-time: August to September. 

Range: Tennessee, Missouri, and Kansas, southward to Louisiana 

and Texas. 
Habitat: Meadows, fields, and waste places. 



422 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



A more slender plant than the preceding, erect, smooth, many- 
branched, one to two feet tall. Leaves narrow lance-shaped or 
the lowermost ones slashed into narrow, pointed lobes, the upper 
ones approaching to linear, but all acute at the apex, sharply 
toothed, sessile or clasping. Heads about an inch broad, with 
perfect disk florets and numerous narrow yellow rays, pistillate 
and fertile ; bracts of the involucre very slender and awl-shaped, 
only the outer row spreading and the inner ones erect ; achenes 
smooth, two-toothed, with a pappus of one or two awns. 

Means of control the same as for the Broad-leaved Gum Plant. 



MARYLAND GOLDEN ASTER 

Chrysopsis maridna, Nutt. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : August to September. 
Seed-time: September to October. 

Range : Southern New York and Penn- 
sylvania, southward to Florida and 
Louisiana. 
Habitat : Dry, rather sterile fields, mead- 
ows, and pastures. 



A very handsome, conspicuous plant 
with numerous golden flower-heads, 
often an inch broad, upheld in terminal, 
branching, flat-topped clusters. Cattle 
refuse to eat the plant, whether as 
green forage or cured with hay. 

Stem stout, one to two feet in height, 
set with silky hairs when young, but 
nearly smooth when old. Leaves alter- 
nate entire, oblong to lance-shape, or 
those near the base spatulate and nar- 
rowed to a petiole, the upper ones sessile, 
all silken-hairy when young but becom- 
ing smooth with age. Heads in co- 
rymbose clusters on viscid, glandular 
peduncles, and the pointed involucral 
bracts also are sticky-hairy; rays six- 




FiG. 294. — Maryland 
Golden Aster (Chrysopsis 
mariana), X \. 



GOMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 423 

teen to twenty in number, pistillate and fertile; disk florets 
perfect. Achenes ovoid, flattened, hairy, with a double pappus, 
the inner row of long hairs, the outer one of short and chaff- 
like bristles. (Fig. 294.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development and distribution by early cutting of 
infested grasslands. Destroy the perennial roots by cultivation of 
the soil, which should be so enriched as to be enabled to support 
plants of a better quality. 

HAIRY GOLDEN ASTER 

Chrysopsis villosa, Nutt. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Wisconsin to Manitoba, and southward to Kentucky, 

Kansas, Louisiana, and Texas. 
Habitat: Grain fields, meadows, and pastures. 

A near relative of the preceding plant and even more pernicious 
because blooming earlier. It is taller, stouter, with fewer but 
larger blossoms, the heads solitary at the ends of the many branches 
and more than an inch broad. Stem two to three feet tall, stiff, 
woody, rough, and gray with close-pressed hairs which are per- 
sistent. Leaves narrowly oblong, obtuse at apex, the upper ones 
rounded at base and sessile, the lower ones narrowing to a petiole ; 
they are hoary with stiff, appressed hairs, the larger, lower ones 
with bristly, fringed bases. Bracts of the involucre awl-shaped 
and very hairy. Achenes three- to five-ribbed, tlie outer row of 
the double pappus very spreading and bristly. 

Means of control should be the same as for the preceding plant. 

GRAY GOLDENROD 

Soliddgo nemordlis, Ait. 

Other English names : Field Goldenrod, Low Goldenrod, Dyer's Weed. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : Late July to November. 



424 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



Seed-time: September to December. 

Range : Quebec to the Northwest Territory, southward to Florida, 

Texas, and Arizona. 
Habitat: Dry soil; old fields, meadows, pastures, roadsides, and 

waste places. 

Probably the commonest of the Goldenrods and one of the most 
beautiful. Stem six inches to two feet high, simple, clothed with fine, 
grayish hair. Alternate leaves also roughened 
with fine, ashy-gray hairs, the lower ones 
spatulate, scallop-toothed, tapering to petioles, 
often with fascicles of small leaves in their 
axils ; the upper leaves very much smaller, 
entire, acute, and sessile. Panicle large, spread- 
ing, recurved, usually one-sided, densely many- 
headed, brilliant golden yellow, each tiny head 
having five to nine rays which, as in all the 
Goldenrods, are pistillate ; the disk florets 
are also yellow and perfect. Achenes very 
small, hairy, with a fine, bristly pappus. 
(Fig. 295.) 

Means of control 

Cultivate and liberally fertilize the ground. 
The plant has a preference for dry and sterile 
soil, and is readily crowded out when the ground 
is furnished with humus which enables it to 
retain moisture and support the growth of 
better plants. Roadside and waste land plants 
should be prevented from seed production by 
repeated close cutting. 




Fig. 295. —Gray 
Goldenrod {Solidago 
nemoralis). X j. 



SOFT OR HOARY GOLDENROD 

Solidago inollis, Bartl. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by stolons. 

Ti7ne of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time : September to November. 

Range: Manitoba and Minnesota to the Northwest Territory, 

southward to Texas and Mexico. 
Habitat : Dry hills and plains ; meadows and pastures. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



425 



Its stoloniferous habit causes this weed to form dense patches, 
choking out all intervening growth. Stems usually tufted, from a 
thick, woody root, six inches to a foot high, stout, rigid, clothed 
with soft, velvety gray hair. Leaves alternate, thick, firm, also 
velvety-hairy, the lower ones spatulate, three-nerved, wavy-edged, 
tapering to petioles ; the upper ones much smaller, acute, entire, 
and sessile. Panicles rather narrow and racemose, the branchlets 
held nearly erect, making the cluster compact and not one-sided ; 
heads small, very bright yellow. Achenes downy-hairy, with fine, 
bristly pappus. 

Means of control the same as for Gray Goldenrod. 



CANADA GOLDENROD 

Soliddgo canadensis, L. 

Other English names: Tall Yellow-weed, 
Tall Goldenrod. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds 
and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom : Late July to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Newfoundland and New Bruns- 
wick to the Northwest Territory and 
British Columbia, southward to Florida 
and Arizona. 

Habitat : Thickets and rich, open soil ; 
meadows and fence rows. 

In good soil this stately plant often 
attains eight or more feet in height, but 
is oftener three to six feet tall, rather 
slender, usually simple, hairy toward the 
top but becoming smooth below. Leaves 
alternate, narrow lance-shaped, thin, 
three-nerved, finely toothed, smooth 
above but finely hairy beneath, espe- 
cially on the veins, pointed at both ends, 
the lower ones tapering to petioles, the 
upper ones becoming smaller, nearly en- 
tire and sessile. Panicle large, broadly 
pyramidal, the racemes recurved and 




Fig. 296. — Canada 
Goldenrod (Solidago cana- 
densis). X g. 



426 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

one-sided, densely crowded, the heads small and rather dull yellow, 
with nine to fifteen rays, the pedicels hairy. Achenes smooth or 
very slightly hairy, with fine, bristly pappus. (Fig. 296.) 

Means of control 

Prevent the development and distribution of the plumed seeds 
by close cutting while in early bloom. Its creeping, underground 
stems make this plant more difficult of suppression than others of 
its kindred, but fall plowing and exposure of the rootstocks to sun- 
drying and freezing will destroy them. Small areas should be 
grubbed out for the protection of neighboring ground. 

STIFF, OR HARD-LEAVED, GOLDENROD 

Soliddgo rigida, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : August to October. 

Seed-time : September to November. 

Range : Ontario to the Northwest Territory, southward to Georgia, 

Texas, and Colorado. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; hills and plains ; meadows and pastures. 

Stem one to five feet tall, stout, rigid, simple or branched above, 
gray with a fine rough-hairiness. Leaves oblong to ovate, thick, 
rigid, with prominent feather-veins, rough-hairy on both sides, 
usually obtuse, the lowermost sometimes a foot long with stiff 
petioles and slightly toothed, the upper ones short, rounded at the 
base, entire, and sessile. Panicle very large and showy, corym- 
bose, densely many-headed, the heads very large for Goldenrod, 
about a third of an inch high, containing thirty or more florets, 
the rays seven to ten, spreading ; bracts of the involucre obtuse, 
the outer row hairy. Achenes smooth, with fine bristly pappus. 

Means of control the same as for Gray Goldenrod. 

NARROW-LEAVED GOLDENROD 

Soliddgo graminifdlia, Salisb. 
(Euthdmia graminifdlia, Nutt.) 

Other English names: Fragrant Goldenrod, Bushy Goldenrod, 

Creeping Yellow-weed. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



427 



Time of bloom: Late July to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range : New Brunswick to the Northwest Territory, southward to 

Florida, Missouri, and Nebraska. 
Habitat: Rich, moist soil; damp fields and meadows, sides of 

streams and ditches. 



.-^?^. 



A beautiful plant but a bad weed, usually growing in large 

patches, formed by means of its long, creeping rootstocks. Stem 

erect, two to four feet tall, slightly angled 

and ridged, much branched and bushy. 

Leaves alternate, lance-shaped to linear, one 

to four inches long but only a quarter- 
inch wide or less, three- to five-nerved, 

minutely rough-hairy on the edges and on 

the under side of the nerves, pointed at 

both ends, entire, sessile. Heads in many 

dense, corymbose, small clusters at the 

ends of the short, leafy branches, forming 

altogether a large, flat-topped cluster; the 

heads are large for Goldenrod, about a 

quarter-inch high, deep yellow, fragrant, 

with many more rays than disk-florets, both 

kinds fertile ; bracts of the involucre oblong 

and somewhat viscid. Achenes broadest 

at the top, downy-hairy, with fine, bristly 

pappus. The Goldenrods frequently serve 

as hosts for several species of mildew and 

rust, which makes them still more undesir- 
able as neighbors to plants of better quality. 

(Fig. 297.) Fig. 297. — Narrow- 

leaved Goldenrod (Soli- 
dago graminif olio) . X J. 

Means of control 

The creeping rootstocks are horizontal and not far below the 
surface, and may be destroyed by shallow fall plowing, which ex- 
poses them to alternate freezing and thaw^ing and to shrivel in sun 
and wind. Better drainage helps in keeping the ground free from 
new invasion. Of course all flowering stalks should be cut when 
the plants are in first bloom, in order to prevent seed development. 




428 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



BUSHY ASTER 

BoUbnia asteroides, L'Her. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: Late July to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range : New Jersey to Minnesota, southward to Florida, Louisiana, 

and Nebraska. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; low meadows, banks of streams, and ditches. 



The common name of this plant fits it well, for it has 
all the appearance of a big and bushy 
Aster and is nearly akin to that Family. 
Stem two to six feet tall, stout, smooth, 
pale green, much branched, and very 
leafy. Leaves alternate, the lower ones 
oblong to lance-shaped or slightly broad- 
ened above the middle, thick, smooth, 
entire, pointed, sessile, often turned edge- 
wise ; upper leaves much smaller, acute, 
and nearly linear. Heads numerous, in 
loosely branched corymbose clusters, each 
about a half-inch broad, with many nar- 
row pistillate, and fertile rays, white, 
pale pink, or purplish, mostly the last. 
Disk rounded and yellow, the florets per- 
fect and fertile. Achenes flattened, obo- 
vate or heart-shaped, winged on the 
margin, and, instead of an Aster's hairy 
pappus, are crowned with several short, 
prickly scales and two to four bristly 

Fig. 298. — Bushy Aster awns about as long as the achene. (Fig. 

(Boltonia asteroides). X j. 298.) 




Means of control 

Ground infested with this weed indicates a need of better drain- 
age. Prevent seed production by close cutting while in early 
bloom. Cultivation of the soil destroys the perennial roots. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



429 



WOODY ASTER 

Xylorhiza Pdrryi, Gray 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : Late May to June. 

Seed-time: June to early July. 

Range: Western Wyoming, Colorado, and adjacent Utah. 

Habitat: Alkaline clay soil; range pastures. 

A most pernicious plant, because of its extremely poisonous 
properties. A bulletin of the State Experiment Station of Wyo- 
ming is authority for the statement that, in the sheep-raising industry 
alone, that commonwealth suffers a yearly loss of more than three 
million dollars, the greater 
part of which is due to 
poisonous plants on the 
pasture ranges, this w^eed 
being considered by many 
stockmen the most nox- 
ious of all, since at least 
90 per cent of the animals 
affected die. 

Roots thick, strong, 
woody, branching more or 
less just at the surface of 
the ground ; from these 
branching, woody crowns 

rise tufts of short branches, four to eight inches in height, forming 
a dense, crowded stool. Leaves alternate, one to two inches long, 
spatulate-linear, sessile, entire, light green, somewhat hoary with a 
thin, soft woolly-hairiness ; usually they are spotted with a brown 
fungus. Heads solitary, terminating the numerous young branches, 
an inch or more broad, with man}^ white rays and yellow disks : 
bracts of the involucre oblong lance-shaped, keeled below, long- 
pointed, covered with ashy-gray hair. Achenes white-hairy, with 
a bristly, yellowish pappus. When green and growing, the whole 
plant gives off an unpleasant odor and has a bitter taste. After 
the flowers mature the plant withers and dries, becoming yellowish 
brown in color and losing its noxious qualities, as thereafter the 




Fig. 299. — Woody Aster {Xylorhiza Parryi). 



430 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

sheep feed freely on the dried herbage without apparent harm. 
(Fig. 299.) 

Means of control 

Herding the animals away from localities where the plants are 
abundant, during the noxious season of green leafage and bloom, 
seems to be the only practicable plan under existing conditions. 
But it would seem that so tremendous an injury to so important 
an industry should be a matter of interest to the entire com- 
munity, better met by concerted communal action than by in- 
dividual effort, and that yearly a large portion of the land cursed 
by such deadly herbage might be redeemed from it, supplanting 
its bane with wholesome growth, if merely salt-bushes. 



NEW ENGLAND ASTER 

Aster nbvce-dnglicB, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range : Quebec to the Northwest Territory, southward to the Caro- 

linas, Alabama, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; fields, meadows, roadsides, waste places. 

One of the handsomest of its family, cultivated in Europe for 
its beauty, escaped, and locally naturalized there. In spite of its 
name the plant is more common in the meadows and thickets of 
the Middle Western States than in New England. 

Stem two to eight feet tall, branching at the top, and the branch- 
lets glandular-viscid, rather stout, erect, often of a reddish color 
and covered with fine, bristly hairs. Leaves alternate, lance- 
shaped, deep green, entire, acute, rather thin, softly hairy, clasping 
the stem by an auriculate base. Heads numerous, clustered at 
the summit of stem and branches ; each nearly two inches broad, 
with orange-yellow disk changing to reddish brown with age, and 
forty to sixty long, narrow rays, which are usually deep violet- 
purple, rarely white, occasionally red or pink ; as in all the asters 
the rays are pistillate and fertile, the disk-florets perfect ; bracts 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 431 

of the involucre nearly equal, green, linear, spreading, very soft 
and lax, glandular hairy, Achenes bristly-hairy, with a thick 
tuft of tawny, brown pappus about three times their length. 

Means of control 

Close and repeated cutting for the purpose of starving the 
perennial roots and preventing seed development. The plant is 
at once destroyed by cultivation of the ground. 

HEART-LEAVED ASTER 

Aster cordifolius, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: New Brunswick to Minnesota, southward to Georgia and 

Missouri. 
Habitat: Woodland borders, fields, and roadsides, fence rows, and 

thickets. 

Stem one to four feet tall, erect, slender, round, and smooth. 
Leaves thin, finely rough, hairy, sharply toothed, heart-shaped to 
broadly ovate, long-pointed, the lower ones often five or six inches 
long and nearly as broad, with slender petioles ; the upper ones 
much smaller, ovate to lance-shaped, short-petioled or sessile. 
Heads very numerous, in profuse panicled clusters at the ends of 
stem and branches, each about a half-inch broad, the rays light 
violet-blue ; involucre top-shaped, its bracts appressed and tipped 
with short, obtuse, green points. Achenes very small, with whitish 
pappus. 

Means of control the same as for New England Aster. 



SMOOTH ASTER 

Aster laevis, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: August to October. 

Seed-time : September to November. 

Range : Maine and Ontario to North Dakota, southward to Georgia, 

Louisiana, and Kansas. 
Habitat : Dry or stony soil ; fields, pastures, roadsides. 



432 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




Fig. 300. — Smooth 
Aster {Aster Icevis). 



Stem two to four feet high, rather stout, 
smooth and polished or often glaucous, sim- 
ple or branched at the top. Leaves light 
green, rather thick in texture, one to four 
inches long, smooth and shining or covered 
with a bloom, entire or minutely toothed, 
oblong and pointed, the upper ones sessile 
and clasping the stem with auricled or heart- 
shaped base, the lower ones tapering to 
margined petioles which are partly clasping. 
Heads numerous, in slender open panicles, 
each about an inch broad, the rays deep 
violet-blue, sometimes purple; involucre 
bell-shaped, its bracts imbricated in several 
rows, smooth, acute, rigid, green-tipped. 
Achenes smooth, with a tawny pappus. 
(Fig. 300.) 

Means of control 

Enrich the ground and enable it to sup- 
port plants of more worth. A cultivated 
crop, heavily fertilized and well tilled, fol- 
lowed by a clean seeding of clover or grass, 
will drive out this and many other weeds. 



WHITE HEATH ASTER 

Aster ericoides, L. 

Other English names: Steelweed, Frostweed, White Rosemary, 

Scrubbush. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: August to October. 
Seed-time: September to December. 
Range: Maine to Ontario and Wisconsin, southward to Virginia 

and Kentucky. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 



Meadows and pastures infested with this weed are in a bad 
condition, for as green forage it is worthless, and the hard, woody 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



433 



stems that have given it the name of Steelweed dull or break the 
mowing knives and "cut the grade" of hay that is intended for 
market. 

Stem one to three feet high, smooth or nearly so, diffusely 
branched, spreading and bushy. Leaves rather thick and rigid, 
the lower ones spatulate, one to three inches long, tapering to a 
slightly margined petiole, sometimes sparingly toothed ; the upper 
ones narrow lance-shaped, sessile, entire, becoming linear and awl- 
like as they near the summit. Heads very 
numerous, racemose along the upper side of 
the spreading branches ; they are hardly a 
half-inch broad, with fifteen to twenty-five 
white or pinkish rays ; bracts of the in- 
volucre rather thick and awl-like, green- 
tipped. The blossoms secrete nectar of a 
fine, limpid quality, and the plant is a 
favorite with bee-keepers. Achenes small, 
gray, finely hairy, the pappus white ; they 
are widely wind-distributed. (Fig. 301.) 

Westward to Minnesota and Missouri, 

this plant gives place to a near relative, the 

Hairy Heath Aster {Aster ericoides var. 

pilosus, Porter), very like it in appearance 

and habits except that the hard stems and 

the small, pointed leaves are clothed all 

•j.1- n i?x 1 • Fig. 301. — Heath Aster 

over with fine, soft hair. (^,^,, ericoides). x i 




Means of control 

Cultivation of the ground, fertilizing heavily and tilling very 
thoroughly before reseeding with clover and grasses. Sheep will 
eat the weed while it is young and will do good service in keeping 
it down in pastures. 



MANY-FLOWERED ASTER 

Aster multiflbrus. Ait. 

Other English names: White Wreath Aster, Fall Flower. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
2f 



434 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Time of bloom: August to November. 

Seed-time: September to December. 

Range : Maine to Ontario to the Northwest Territory and British 

Columbia, southward to Georgia, Texas, and Arizona. 
Habitat: Dry, open soil; fields, meadows, roadsides, and waste 

places. 

Stem one to six feet tall, very slender, strict, hard and woody, 
w^th many slender, spreading branches, pale with a close, minute 
hairiness. Leaves light green, oblong to linear, spreading, rigid, 
entire, obtuse, rough-edged, sessile or clasping at the base, hardly 
more than an inch long, those on the branches much smaller, 
being mere roughened, awl -like bracts. Heads very many, hardly 
a half-inch broad, with white rays, in densely crowded, long, rather 
one-sided, racemose clusters, so closely set along the branches as 
often to conceal them and really form "white wreaths" ; involucre 
top-shaped, its bracts appressed with spreading and recurved green 
tips. Achenes hairy, with tawny pappus. 

Means of control the same as for the Smooth Aster. 

TRADESCANT'S ASTER 

Aster Tradescdnti, L. 

Other English names: Michaelmas Daisy, Farewell Summer. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : August to October. 
Seed-ti7ne: September to November. 

Range: Ontario to the Northwest Territory, southward to Vir- 
ginia, Illinois, and Missouri. 
Habitat: Damp fields and meadows, borders of swamps. 

Stem two to five feet tall, nearly smooth, slender, brownish, 
with many ascending, paniculate branches. Leaves narrow lance- 
shaped to linear, three to six inches in length, long-pointed, thin, 
smooth, sessile and entire or the Iqwer ones toothed along the 
middle of each side and tapering to petioles. Heads in large, very 
numerous raceme-like panicles, smaller than related species or 
rather more than a half-inch broad, the many narrow rays white 
or very pale purple ; involucre broadly top-shaped, its bracts 
closely imbricated, linear, acute, green-tipped. Achenes minutely 
hairy, with a white pappus. 

Means of control the same as for the Purple-stemmed Aster. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 435 

WILLOW-LEAVED ASTER 

Aster salicijblius, Ait. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: August to October. 

Seed-time -• September to November. 

Range: Maine and Ontario to Montana, southward to Florida, 

Missouri, and Texas. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; meadows, pastures, waste places. 

Stem slender, two to five feet tall, smooth or the upper and 
younger parts finely hairy. Leaves firm, two to four inches long, 
somewhat rough-hairy, especially on the margins, narrow lance- 
shaped, with few and very short fine teeth along the sides or 
more often entire, pointed at both ends, sessile or slightly clasping 
or the lowermost ones tapering to petioles. Heads in loose, leafy 
panicles, each nearly an inch broad, with many violet or pale 
purple or sometimes nearly white rays ; involucre top-shaped, its 
bracts nearly linear, closely appressed, acute and green-tipped. 
Achenes finely hairy with white pappus. 

Means of control the same as for Purple-stemmed Aster. 

PURPLE-STEMMED ASTER 
Aster puniceus, L. 

Other English names: Early Purple Aster, Red-stalk, Ruddy-stem, 

Swan Weed, Meadow Scabish, Coeash. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to November. 
Seed-time: August to December. 
Range: Ne^^^oundland to Manitoba, southward to Virginia, Ohio, 

and Illinois. 
Habitat : Moist fields and meadows, banks of streams, swamps. 

Stem three to seven feet tall, stout, grooved, erect, reddish 
purple, bristly w^th short, stiff hairs, branching near the top. 
Leaves three to six inches long and an inch or more wide, 
oblong to lance-shaped, long-pointed, rough above, bristly on 
midrib below, toothed along the sides, clasping the stem with an 
auriculate base. Heads in loosely branched panicles, on 



436 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




'\ 

Fig. 302. — Purple- 
stemmed Aster {Aster pu- 
niceus). X |. 



rather short pedicels, each about an inch 
broad, with light yellow disk and many 
pale purple or lilac rays ; bracts of the 
involucre usually in two rows, linear, 
smooth, green, spreading. Achenes hairy, 
the long, tufted pappus nearly white. 
This weed is in bloom so early that 
flowering stems are often cut with hay, 
and seeds ripen on the stalks. (Fig. 
302.) 

Means of control 

Deprive the plant of its loved mois- 
ture by better drainage. Prevent seed 
production and starve the perennial roots 
by frequent close cutting, and so fertilize, 
cultivate, and improve the ground that 
better plants will supersede the weed. 



ROBIN'S PLANTAIN 

Erigeron pulchellus, Michx. 

Other English names: Blue Spring Daisy, Poor Robin, Rose Petty. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and off-sets. 

Time of bloom : April to June. 

Seed-time: May to July. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Ontario and Minnesota, southward to 

Florida and Louisiana. 
Habitat: Hillsides, woodland borders, moist banks. 

Stems slender, simple, softly hairy, ten to twenty inches tall. 
Base-leaves tufted, spatulate or long obovate, obtuse, softly hairy 
on both sides, with a few shallow teeth, and tapering to short- 
margined petioles ; stem-leaves small, distant, narrow-ovate to 
lance-shaped, sessile or partly clasping, usually entire. Heads few, 
in a terminal cluster, each an inch or more broad, with many 
narrow purple ra^'s var^dng from pale lilac to deep violet ; disk 
broad and flat, greenish yellow, its florets perfect. Achenes 
flattened, nearly smooth, with pappus of a single row of fine hairs. 



GOMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 437 

Means of control 

This weed is at once suppressed by cultivation of the ground ; 
but where that is not practicable or desirable, the plant may be 
destroyed by hoe-cutting below the crown. 



PHILADELPHIA FLEABANE 

Erigeron philadelphiciis, L. 

Other English names: Skevish, Lowground Fleabane. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds, stolons, and off-sets. 

Time of hloo7n: May to August. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range : Throughout North America except the 

far North. 
Habitat : Alluvial soil ; fields, meadows, and 

thickets. 



Often spoken of as the "common" Fleabane, 
but not usually an abundant weed, for it has 
decided preferences, growing only on moist 
ground and liking partial shade. 

Stems one to three feet high, single or in 
tufts of two or three, slender, leafy, softly 
hairy. Lower leaves spatulate to long-obo- 
vate, obtuse, coarsely toothed, narrowing to 
short-margined petioles ; stem-leaves more nar- 
row and pointed, often entire, clasping by a 
heart-shaped base. Heads in a corymbose 
terminal cluster, each nearly an inch broad, 
with greenish yellow disks and innumerable 
thin, fringy rays, pale pink or pinkish purple, 
sometimes nearly white. iVchenes hairy, with 
pappus of one funnel-formed row of fine 
hair. These seeds are a common impurity of 
grass and clover seeds, though, being small 
and light, they should be readilv removed. 
(Fig. 303.) 

Controlled by drainage and cultivation of 
the ground. 




Fig. 303. — Phila- 
delphia Fleabane 

(Erigeron philadel- 
■phicus). X \. 



438 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



WHITE-TOP 

Erigeron dnnuus, L. 



Tall Whiteweed, Daisy Fleabane, Sweet 
Propagates by seeds. 



Other English names 

Scabious. 
Native. Annual or winter annual. 
Time of bloom: May to November. 
Seed-time: June to December. 
Range : Nova Scotia to Alaska, southward to Georgia and Missouri. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides, waste places. 

A special pest of grass and clover fields, 
the earlier flowers maturing and dropping 
seeds into the soil before the accompanying 
crop is ready to harvest, thus assuring a con- 
tinuity of its unwelcome presence. Seed- 
bearing plants are transported in baled hay 
and the seeds are a common impurity of grass 
seeds. 

Stem two to five feet tall, erect, stiff, some- 
what ridged, sparsely covered with spreading 
hairs, much branched at the top. Leaves 
thin, coarsely and sharply toothed, the lower 
ones long-ovate, tapering into margined peti- 
oles, the upper ones lance-shaped, acute, 
toothed only along the sides, sessile or with 
very short petioles, those on the branches 
still smaller and usually entire. Heads very 
numerous, in many corymbose clusters, on 
short pedicels, about a half-inch broad, the 
many narrow rays white or faintly tinged 
with purple ; bracts of the involucre bristly- 
hairy and nearly linear. Achenes very small, 
light-colored, flattened, slightly hairy. Pappus 
double, the inner row of fine bristly hairs, the 
outer row of short slender scales. (Fig. 304.) 




Fig. 304. — White- 
top (Erigeron an- 
nuus). X ^. 



Means of control 

If the infestation is new and the weed not so abundant as to 
make the task impracticable, it will pay to hand-pull and remove 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 439 

the plants at the appearance of its first bloom, rather than that the 
ground should be fouled for as long as it is kept in clover or grass. 
Sheep prefer White-top to good hay. After the crop is harvested, 
turn in the flock and they will graze down the tufts of winter crown- 
leaves. Fields rankly infested are best treated by plowing under 
for winter wheat or a cultivated crop, to be followed by a clean 
reseeding. 

SLENDER WHITE-TOP 

Erigeron rambsus, BSP. 

Native. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to November. 

Seed-time: June to December. 

Range: Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territory, southward to 

Florida, Louisiana, and Texas. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 

Similar to the preceding species and often growing in its com- 
pany, but smaller, the slender stem one to three feet tall, the 
clothing hairs appressed instead of spreading. Basal leaves oblong 
to spatulate, toothed, and narrowed to petioles, the stem leaves 
lance-shaped to linear, mostly entire, and sessile. Heads smaller, 
with even thinner and more thread-like white rays ; bracts of the 
involucre nearly linear, scarious-margined, acute. Achenes re- 
semble those of the preceding species. 

Means of control the same as for Tall White-top. 



CANADA FLEABANE 

Erigeron canadensis, L. 
{Leptilon canadense, Britton) 

Other English names: Horseweed, Bitterweed, Prideweed, Mare's- 

tail, Blood-stanch. 
Native. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to October. 
Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: Throughout North America except the extreme North. 
Habitat: Grain fields, meadows, pastures, and waste places. 

From this plant is distilled the volatile oil of fleabane, used in 
making "mosquito dope" for the use of persons who have occa- 



440 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



sion to go where mosquitoes are troublesome ; it is also used in 
medicine, and the dried plants are quoted at five to six cents a 
pound in the drug market ; its juices are resinous and bitter, 
and grazing animals will not touch the weed. The hands should 
be protected when pulling or collecting the plants, for the oily 
and acrid juices are sometimes very irritating to the skin, pro- 
ducing an eruption which resembles that caused by the touch of 
Poison Ivy. 

In good soil the stem may attain to a height of ten feet, and, 
again, it will adapt itself to hard conditions and bloom when less 
than six inches tall ; it is erect, finely 
grooved, bristly with short hairs, simple or 
branching from the base ; when cut it stools 
freely, hastening to develop new fruiting 
branches. Lower leaves spatulate or some- 
times cut-lobed, tapering to petioles ; upper 
ones usually entire, lance-shaped to linear, 
finely hairy, much crowded on the stalks. 
Heads in panicled clusters, very small and 
very numerous, each about a sixth of an 
inch broad, with smooth, cylindric invo- 
lucre, nearly concealing the very small, 
white rays. Seeds many and small, with 
yellowish brown pappus. (Fig. 305.) 

Means of control 

Where not too abundant to make the task 
impracticable, hand-pull the weeds and re- 
move them from the ground, for the woody 
stalks contain enough nutriment to mature 
the first-opened flowers. Burn over stubbles 
on infested grain fields for the purpose of 
destroying the seeds on the ground. Mead- 
ows badly "run to Horseweed" should be 
put to a well-tilled hoed crop before reseeding. Plants of roadside 
and waste places should be pulled or cut in early bloom or before, 
for the protection of adjacent property. 




Fig. 305. — Canada 
Fleabane (Erigeron 
canadensis). X j. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



441 



COTTON ROSE 

Gifola germdnica, Dumort 

Other English names: Herba Impia, Childing Cudweed, Downy- 
weed, Owl's Crown, Hoarwort. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: Atlantic States, New York to Georgia. 
Habitat: Dry fields and pastures. 

Its oddity tempts one to take a few plants to the home 
flower garden when first seeing a patch of this weed. Stems 
five to fifteen inches high, simple or branching from the base, 
the whole plant grayish white with soft woolly i^ 
hair. Leaves alternate and crowded thick on ^'^ 
the stem, lance-shaped, sessile, acute, erect, 
less than an inch long. At the top of the stalk 
is bunched a dense cluster of white-woolly discoid 
flower-heads, from among which rise several short, 
leafy branches, like the stalk below but more 
slender, and these in turn may have a bunch of 
woolly flower-heads and more leafy branches 
terminated by more woolly blossoms. For this 
odd habit of bloom it is called Childing Cud- 
weed, and the early botanists named it Herba 
Impia because the children so undutifuUy ex- 
alted themselves above their mother. (Fig. 306.) 

Means of control 

The lowest cluster of flower-heads ripens first, 

and in order to keep them from reproduction ^^^^ '^^ ^:~ 
^1 , ^ ^ , , Cotton Rose {Gi- 

tne plants must be cut as soon as these appear, foia germanicd). 

before any "children" overtop them. x f. 




PLANTAIN-LEAVED EVERLASTING 

Antenndria plantaginifolia, Richards 

Other English names : Early or Spring Everlasting, Mouse-ear Ever- 
lasting, White Plantain, Ladies' Tobacco, Pussy-toes. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by stolons. 



442 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



Time of bloom : Late March to June. 

Seed-time: June to July. 

Range: Labrador to Nebraska, southward to Georgia and Texas. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; open woods, upland pastures. 

These plants have dioecious flowers and their stoloniferous 
habit causes them to form broad, dense patches, the fertile and 
sterile groups commonly distinct but very neighborly. Root- 
leaves tufted in a small rosette, obovate 
to spatulate, obtuse, three-ribbed, taper- 
ing to petioles, softly white-woolly on 
both sides but more so beneath ; leaves of 
old plants sometimes become smooth on 
the upper surface ; stem-leaves few, 
small, and sessile. Stems at first very 
short but often lengthening to a height 
of six inches or a foot, the fertile plants 
being much the taller. Heads in small 
corymbose clusters, each head less than 
a quarter-inch broad, the pistillate ones 
showing two-cleft, crimson styles and 
when in fruit having the more copious 
pappus ; bracts of the involucre dry and 
scarious, those of the fertile heads pur- 
plish brown at base, with narrow white 
tips, those of the staminate heads with 
broad white petal-like tips. After fruit- 
ing, the plants spend their energies for 
the remainder of the growing season in 
sending out runners with young plants at the tips, which take 
root and extend the size of the patches. Cattle leave the plant 
unmolested, and in dry fields and pastures it sometimes "runs 
out" much of the grass. (Fig. 307.) 

Means of control 

Disk-harrow, fertilize and reseed the hilly pastures in the fall, 
first removing the thickest patches of the weed by hoe-cutting. 
Cultivation and rotation with clover is the best remedy for ground 
not so hilly as to be in danger of washing. 




Fig. 307. — Plantain- 
leaved Everlasting (Anten- 
naria plantaginifolia) . X f. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



443 



FIELD CAT'S-FOOT 

Antenndria neglecta, Greene 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by stolons. 
Time of hloom : April to June. 
Seed-ti7ne: June to July. 

Range : New Brunswick to Wisconsin and Iowa, southward to Vir- 
ginia and Kansas. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, pastures, and waste places. 



A smaller plant than the preceding, 
but with much longer and more slender 
stolons. Root-leaves about two inches 
long, tufted in small rosettes, narrow 
spatulate or wedge-shaped, obtuse, one- 
nerved, smooth above, white-woolly be- 
neath, entire, sessile ; stem-leaves linear, 
very small. Stems of staminate plants 
four to eight inches high, the fertile ones 
often nearly a foot in height when 
mature. Heads in racemose clusters, 
similar in structure to those of the 
preceding species. (Fig. 308.) 

In some localities the Smaller Cat's- 
foot, A. neodioica, is even more common, 
forming large matted patches. Its 
range extends from the North Atlantic 
States westward to the Dakotas and it 
has also found its way to Northern Fig. 308. — Field Cat's-foot 
Europe {Antennaria neglecta). X \. 

Means of control the same as for the Plantain-leaved 
Everlasting. 

SWEET. OR COMMON, EVERLASTING 

Gnaphdlium polycephalum, Michx. 

{Gnaphdlium obtusifolium, L.) 

Other English names: Old Field Balsam, Sweet White Balsam, 
Balsam Posy, Fragrant Everlasting, Many-headed Everlasting, 
Chafeweed. 

Native. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 




444 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: September to November. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Manitoba, and southward 
to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat: Old fields and pastures, open woods. 

Although grazing cattle pass it by and it 
usurps the place of plants that they do like, 
yet it would be one country pleasure lost to 
us if this weed were entirely gone from the old 
fields and "brushlot" pastures which it fre- 
quents. Its fragrance is one of the most de- 
lightful of outdoor odors and it is very lasting. 

Stem softly woolly, one to three feet tall, 
simple or branched at the top. Leaves alter- 
nate, oblong, very narrow, pointed, sessile, taper- 
ing toward the base, dark green and smooth 
above but densely white-woolly beneath, the 
margins slightly wavy. Heads very numerous, 
several panicled clusters growing on a plant. 
Each head is oblong, few-flowered, with pistil- 
late florets in the outer rows, those in the 
center perfect; involucral bracts appressed, 
white and papery, sometimes tinged with 
brown, blunt-pointed, the outer row woolly at 
the base. Seeds smooth and very small, the 
pappus tawny yellow. (Fig. 309.) 




Fig. 309.— 
Sweet Everlasting 
{Gnaphalium poly- 
cephalum). X I. 



Means of control 

Hand-pulling or close cutting while in early bloom will prevent 
seed development. Hoe-cutting of winter rosettes. 



CLAMMY EVERLASTING 

Gnaphdlium decurrens, Ives 

Other English names: Clammy Balsamweed, Clammy Cudweed, 

Winged Cudweed. 
Native. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: September to October. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



445 



Range: Quebec to British Columbia, southward to Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Michigan, and Minnesota and in the Rocky Mountains to 
Arizona. 

Habitat: Upland pastures, clearings, open woods. 



At first sight and smell this might be mistaken for Sweet Ever- 
lasting, but on handling it the white, woolly stem is found to be 
glandular and slightly sticky. Leaves sharp-pointed, slightly 
broader than those of the preceding plant, smooth above, w^hite- 
woolly below, sessile, with a decurrent base. Heads a little shorter 
and thicker, fragrant, closely clustered ; their involucral scales are 
cream-white to pale brownish yellow, pointed oval in shape, the 
outer row woolly at their bases. 

For its extermination the same measures are necessary as for 
Sweet Everlasting. 

LOW CUDWEED 

Gnaphdlium uliginbsum, L. 

Other English names: Marsh Cudweed, Wartwort, Mouse-ear. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloorn: July to September. 

Seed-time : September to November. 

Range: Newfoundland to the Saskatchewan, southward to the 

states bordering on the Great Lakes. 
Habitat: Low meadows, sides of streams and ditches, roadsides, 

and waste places. 

Although this plant loves moisture and is a 
common weed of flooded ground, it can adapt 
itself to very different conditions ; the writer 
found the specimen from which this description 
is written thriving in the dry ground of a vacant 
city lot. (Fig. 310.) 

Stem two to six inches tall, with man}^ 
branches, the lower ones spreading on the 
ground, making it much broader than its height. 
The plant is covered all over, stems and leaves, 
with close-pressed, white wool. Leaves sessile, 
spatulate to lance-shaped, narrow, pointed, and 
but one or two inches long. Flower-heads white, 
very small, in close-packed terminal clusters sur- 




FiG. 310. — Low 
Cudweed {Gnapha- 
lium uliginosuni) . 



446 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



rounded by leafy, white-woolly bracts. Involucral scales oblong, 
the outer ones bluntly rounded and woolly, the inner rows acute, 
dry and scarious, yellowish white. Its very low, spreading habit 
of growth and dense white-woolliness would make it a pretty 
border plant in the flower garden if its ambitions in regard to 
bloom and fruitage were kept nipped in the bud. 

Means of control 

Hoe-cutting or hand-pulling while in early bloom, making cer- 
tain that no seed has developed. 



ELECAMPANE 



Inula Heleniujn, L. 

Other English names: Horseheal, Horse Elder, Scabwort, Elf Dock, 
Velvet Dock, Yellow Starwort. 

Introduced. Perennial. Prop- 
agates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to Sep- 
tember. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Minne- 
sota, southward to North 
Carolina and Missouri. 

Habitat: Old fields, pastures, 
roadsides, barnyards, and 
waste places. 

In former days a small patch 
of this plant was often kept by 
country people for the relief of 
asthmatic horses, "to help the 
heaves" — the thick, fleshy, mu- 
cilaginous, yellow taproot being 
the part used ; it is still valued 
medicinally and collectors receive 
three to five cents a pound for it, 
collected in the autumn of the 
second year of growth, sliced, 
and dried. 




Fig. 311. — Elecampane (Inula Hel- 
enium). X i. 



COMPOSITAE (.COMPOSITE FAMILY) 447 

The plant sends up in the first year only a clump of large leaves, 
long ovate, light green, the upper surface rough but the under 
surface downy-hairy, sometimes two feet in length and six or 
eight inches wide, with stout, hairy petioles. Fruiting stalks 
appear in the second year, three to six feet tall, stout, hairy, simple 
or sometimes branched, the leaves alternate, sessile and clasping. 
Heads terminal, solitary or few, two to four inches broad, on stout, 
hairy peduncles ; rays yellow, numerous, linear, pistillate ; disk- 
florets perfect and fertile ; bracts of the involucre triple-rowed, the 
outer ones broad and leafy. Achenes brown, smooth, four-angled, 
with a pappus of bristly hairs. (Fig. 311.) 

Means of control 

Deep cutting with sharp spud or hoe, dry salt or carbolic acid 
being applied to the shorn root. 



COMPASS PLANT 
Silphium lacinidtum, L. 

Other English names: Pilotweed, Polar Plant, Turpentine Weed, 

Rosinweed. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range : Michigan to the Dakotas, southward to Alabama, Louisiana, 

and Texas. 
Habitat : Prairies ; fields, meadows, and pastures. 

Many a traveler of the pioneer, roadless days of "going west" 
found this plant a very serviceable compass, for its large leaves 
are held nearly erect with their edges directed north and south. 
It is a vigorous, grossly feeding weed, with large, thick, deep- 
boring roots which yearly send up huge tufts of stout stems, four 
to twelve feet tall, bristly-rough, and sticky with resinous juices. 
Leaves alternate, a foot or more long, also bristly-rough on both 
sides, oblong, pinnately divided, the segments narrow, pointed, 
sometimes cut-lobed or pinnatifid, rarely entire ; petioles long, 
rather stout, with dilated and clasping base. Heads three to five 
inches broad and very showy, sessile or with very short peduncle. 



448 



C MP SITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



on the long, naked stalks near 
their summits ; the many rays 
long, 3^ellow, notched at their tips, 
pistillate and fertile ; disk-florets 
orange-yellow, perfect but ster- 
ile ; bracts of the involucre nar- 
rowly ovate with long, stiff 
points spreading nearly as wide 
as the rays. The achenes, being 
the fruit of the ray florets, are 
in rings around the outer edge 
of the heads, each about a half- 
inch long, brown, flat, oval, and 
broadly winged, deeply notched 
at the top, without pappus. 
(Fig. 312.) 

Means of control 

Cultivation of the ground is 
the best method of suppres- 
sion; but if not desirable to 
break up the meadows where 
the plant is most troublesome, 
it should be cut deeply, below the crown, with a sharp hoe or 
spud, before the first flowers mature, the roots being salted so as to 
check new growth. 

PRAIRIE DOCK 

Silphium terehinthinaceum, Jacq. 

Other English names: Rosin Plant, Prairie Burdock. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Ontario and Ohio to Minnesota, southward to Georgia and 

Louisiana. 
Habitat: Prairies and dry woods, meadows, and pastures. 

Terebinthine is the ancient word for turpentine, and the resin- 
ous juice of this and the preceding weed accounts for one of their 




Fig. 312. — Compass Plant (Silphium 
laciniatum). X |. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 449 

common names. Stem stout, four to ten feet tall, smooth or nearly 
so, branching at the top into a loose and sprawling panicle. Leaves 
alternate, mostly basal, a foot or more in length and about six 
inches wide, thick and leathery, rough on both sides but especially 
so beneath, heart-shaped at base and pointed at tip, sharply 
toothed, with long, stout, grooved petioles. Heads numerous, two 
or three inches broad, with many long, yellow rays which are pistil- 
late and fertile ; disk-florets perfect but sterile ; involucre hemi- 
spheric, its bracts erect, obtuse, and smooth. Achenes oblong, 
flat, narrowly winged, slightly notched at the top, and two-toothed. 

Means of control 

Turning out the perennial roots with a plow in the fall is the 
surest method of destruction ; but as it is most frequently a weed 
of permanent grasslands, deep cutting with sharp hoe or spud, 
just before the blooming season, is the next best remedy, using a 
handful of salt on the cut surface of the roots in order to retard 
their recovery. 

CUP PLANT 

Silphium perfolidtum, L. 

Other English names: Indian Cup, Ragged Cup. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Ontario to the Dakotas, southward to Louisiana and 

Texas. 
Habitat: Prairies; meadows, pastures, and waste places. 

A large, stout weed with square, pale green stems, often more 
than an inch in thickness at the base, four to eight feet tall, 
growing from thick, perennial roots in great tufts, or thickets. 
Leaves opposite, large, broadly oval, pointed, coarsely toothed, the 
upper ones united at their bases and forming rather deep cups 
which retain dew and rain. Lower leaves very large and abruptly 
narrowed to winged petioles, which are also joined at base; for 
their size the leaves are rather thin, and are of a sandpaper 
roughness on both sides. Flower-heads few because of the curious 
progression of bloom ; the first one grows from the center of a cup, 
2g 



450 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



while on each side of it springs 
a stalk, taller than itself, bear- 
ing a leaf -cup, which in turn 
will have a central head and 
two more cup-bearing stalks ; 
these will fork again, and yet 
again, the series being some- 
times "four stories high," as 
an observant child remarked. 
Each head resembles a small 
sunflower, two or three inches 
broad, with twenty to thirty 
narrow, yellow rays, pistillate 
and fertile; the disk-florets 
are sterile ; involucral bracts 
in triple rows, broadly ovate, 
and conspicuous. Achenes en- 
circle the outer edge of the 
head, as only the rays form 
fruit; they are oval, broad, 
brown, flat, notched at apex, 
winged on each side, with a 
pappus of two awn-like teeth. 
The same methods of exter- 
mination should be used as for the Compass Plant. (Fig. 313.) 




Fig. 313. — Cup Plant (Silphium per 
foliatum). X i. 



ROUGH MARSH ELDER 

Iva ciliaia, Willd. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seed. 

Time of hloom: August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Illinois to Nebraska, and southward to Louisiana, Texas, 

and New Mexico. 
Habitat : Meadows and fields, sides of streams, and waste places. 



A coarse, unsightly weed, bristly with rough hairs, two to seven 
feet in height, the erect stem usually simple but sometimes branched 
and often mottled with different shades of green. Leaves opposite, 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



451 



<^ 



broadly ovate, pointed, three-nerved, coarsely and irregularly 
toothed, narrowed abruptly to bristly petioles. Heads in dense 
terminal and axillary spikes, subtended 
by narrowly lance-shaped, spreading, 
very hairy bracts, much longer than 
the greenish heads, which are scarcely 
an eighth of an inch in diameter. 
Involucre hairy, its bracts three to 
five, distinct or sometimes united at 
base ; central florets staminate ; fertile 
florets, marginal, three to five. Achenes 
about an eighth of an inch long, with- 
out pappus, similar to those of Poverty 
Weed but ribbed on the face. They 
are to be guarded against in alfalfa 
seed from the Southwest. (Fig. 314.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production. Meadow^s 
infested with this weed should be har- 
vested early, before the plants have 
matured. Its bristly and woody stems 
are rejected by cattle as fodder, and 
if the plants are not extremeh^ numer- 
ous it would pay to remove them by 
hand-pulling from a good stand of al- 
falfa. Plants along ditches and streams 
by hoe-cutting or mowing while young. 




Fig. 314. — Rough Marsh 
Elder {Iva ciliata). X i- 



should be destroyed 



HIGHWATER SHRUB 

Iva xanthifolia, Nutt. 

Other English names: False Ragweed, False Sunflower, Red River 
Weed, Halfbreed Weed, Burweed Marsh Elder. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: Late July to September. 

Seed-time : September to November. 

Range : Michigan and Manitoba to the Northwest Territory, south- 
ward to Nebraska, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. 

Habitat: Grain fields, meadows, cultivated crops, waste places. 



452 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



Before flowering, this coarse weed somewhat resembles the 
Great Ragweed {Ambrosia trifida), for the young plants have nearly 
the same habits of growth and leaf outlines ; but as soon as they 
mature the likeness disappears . Stem stout, 
woody, and shrub-like, much branched, 
three to eight feet tall. The lower part of 
the plant is smooth, but the upper leaves 
and branches are somewhat roughened 
with minute hairs. Leaves mostly op- 
posite, broadly ovate, coarsely and very 
irregularly toothed, roughish above, three- 
nerved, narrowed abruptly to a stiff peti- 
ole; the lowermost ones are sometimes 
heart-shaped, six inches or more long and 
nearly as wide. Heads small and green- 
ish, in large terminal panicles and lesser 
axillary clusters, sessile and closely crowded 
on the branchlets ; they are scarcely an 
eighth of an inch broad, the disk-florets 
perfect but sterile; surrounding these are 
usually five fertile pistillate flowers, with 
very short tubes or none at all. Achenes 
usually five in each head, about an eighth 
of an inch long, ovoid, slightly flattened, 
varying in color from light brown to nearly black, without pappus. 
Thev are sometimes found as an impurity in alfalfa seed. (Fig. 
315.) 




Fig. 315. — High water 
Shrub (Iva xanthifolia) . 

xi 



Means of control 

The required tillage of cultivated crops serves to keep the weed 
in subjection. In grain fields many of the young seedlings may be 
dragged out with a weeding harrow in the spring, when the grain 
is but a few inches tall. The slightly roughened surface of its 
upper foliage makes this weed susceptible to injury from chemical 
spray, and, if treated in time with Iron sulfate or Copper sulfate, 
all seed development may be prevented. Waste-land plants should 
be cut, piled, and burned before any seed has ripened. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



453 



POVERTY WEED 

Iva axillaris, Pursh. 

Other English name: Small-flowered Marsh Elder. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of hloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Manitoba to British Columbia, southward to Nebraska, 

New Mexico, and California. 
Habitat : Cultivated crops, grain fields, meadows, and waste places. 

A very pernicious weed, difficult to suppress because of its exten- 
sive system of tough, woody rootstocks which send up many fruiting 
stalks, causing it to form dense patches, crowding 
and starving all other growth. It intrudes in 
most crops and thrives almost anywhere, but 
seems to have a preference for soil that is alkaline. 
The whole plant has a rank, unpleasant odor, 
causing it to be disliked by grazing animals. 

Stems six inches to nearly tw^o feet high, erect, 
diffusely branched and very leafy. Leaves nar- 
row^ly oblong or obovate, a half-inch to two inches 
long, somewhat thick and fleshy, rough-hairy, 
three-nerved, entire and sessile ; the lower ones 
opposite, those near the top alternate. Heads 
inconspicuous, solitary, axillary, and drooping, 
the central florets sterile ; bracts of the involucre 
united into a five-Iobed cup, surrounding the fer^ 
tile pistillate florets which are usually four or five 
in number. Achenes ovoid, flattened, sometimes 
keeled on one side, varying in color from green to 
almost black; they have no pappus. (Fig. 316.) 




Fig. 316.— 
Poverty Weed 
{Iva axillaris) . 

xi 



Means of control 

Prevent all seed production by repeated close cuttings through- 
out the growing season. The rootstocks must be starved to death 
after the manner of Horse Nettle or Perennial Sow Thistle, by short 
rotations with cultivated crops well fertilized and so well tilled 
that no leaf-growth is permitted to store the weed's underground 



454 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



stems with sustenance. Alternate with such crops as clover and 
rye, which may be cut often for soiling or may be plowed under to 
furnish green manure for another well-tilled hoed crop. 



GREAT OR GIANT RAGWEED 

Ambrosia trifida, L. 

Other English names: Tall Ambrosia, Kinghead, Crownweed, Wild 

Hemp, Big BitterTveed, Horseweed, Horse Cane. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Ti7ne of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 

Range : Nova Scotia to Florida, westward to the Northwest Terri- 
tory, Nebraska, Colorado, and Arkansas. 

Habitat : Moist, rich soil ; fields and waste 
places. 



A huge, coarse plant, occupying so much 
room and feeding so grossly that crops grow- 
ing with it are crowded and starved to 
death. Its usual height is four to ten feet, 
but on very fertile river bottom-lands it 
attains to twelve and even fifteen feet. 

Stem stout, tough, woody, widely branched 
and rough with bristly hairs. Leaves also 
rough-hairy and varying greatly in shape, 
often more than a foot long, mostly three- 
parted, but some may have five lobes and 
yet others may be ovate or lance-shaped; 
usually they are coarsely toothed but the 
smaller upper ones are often entire ; all are 
opposite, three-nerved, the petioles stout and 
margined. Sterile heads in racemes six inches 
to a foot in length, their involucres three- 
ribbed on the outer side with scalloped 
margins. Fertile involucres clustered in the 
axils of the upper leaves. These form a 
fruit a quarter-inch or more long, brown, 
obovoid, five- or six-ribbed, with a conic 
beak at apex surrounded by five 




-^. 



Fig 



^ -^. 






317. — Giant 
Ragweed {Ambrosia tri- 
fida). X h 



or six 



COMPO SITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 455 

shorter spines like the points of a crown; whence its names of 
Kinghead and Crown weed. These spines, or tubercles, give much 
trouble in cleaning it from other seeds, as they catch in the screens ; 
also they contain air spaces, which enable the fruits to float on water 
and in winter«to be blown far over crusted snow. (Fig. 317.) 

Means of control 

When young and tender, Great Ragweed succumbs readily to the 
blighting touch of chemical sprays. But if allowed to approach 
maturity it pays to hand-pull the weed, for the stout, woody stalks 
so dull and break the blades of mowers and reapers, cause so much 
waste of binding twdne, and are so clogging to the feed-way of 
threshing machines, that the earlier handwork is really an economy. 
In cultivated crops the plant gives little trouble, being killed there 
while young. 

COMMON RAGWEED 

Ambrosia artemisiijblia, L. 

Other English names: Roman Wormwood, Bitterweed, Wild Tansy, 
Hayweed, Hogweed, Carrotweed, Stammerwort. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seed. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: United States and Canada from Nova Scotia to British 
Columbia, southward to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; cultivated ground, meadows, waste places. 

One of the most common of weeds, intruding almost everywhere ; 
it is a pest in meadows and pastures, for, though cattle do not relish 
its bitter juices, they will sometimes eat it when better forage is 
scarce and, as a consequence, yield bitter milk with a bad odor. 
After the removal of a grain crop this plant nearly always springs 
up in the stubble. When in bloom its abundant pollen is said to 
cause "hay fever," and it is dreaded and avoided by persons sub- 
ject to the disease. 

Ragweed has rather deep, branching roots, from which the stem 
rises one to five feet, erect, finely hairy, and branching freely. 
Leaves alternate, two to four inches long, thin, deep green above, 
paler beneath, twice pinnatifid, giving the plant an open, feathery 



456 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



appearance. Flowers of two kinds, the staminate heads in crowded 
spike-like recemes at tjie summit of the plant and in its upper 
axils ; the involucres top-shaped, formed of five to twelve united 
bracts, and containing six to twenty small, greenish flowers. 
Below, in the axils, concealed by clustering bracts; are the fertile 
involucres, each one containing a single flower, the elongated 

branches of its style protruding from 
the closed and pointed crown ; when 
mature these involucres form hard 
achene-like fruits, about an eighth of 
an inch long, ovoid, with a beaked 
crown, surrounded by four to six spiny 
points. Once in the soil, they sur- 
vive for years, springing up when 
opportunity offers ; they are a com- 
mon impurity of grain and grass seed 
and are also distributed in baled hay. 
(Fig. 318.) 

Means of control 

The thin, softly hairy, and wide- 
spread foliage of young Ragweed is 
very susceptible to injury from chem- 
ical sprays, and an application of 
Copper sulfate or Iron sulfate will 
kill the plants in multitudes without 
injury to the grass or grain among 
which they are growing. In clover 
fields the crop is slightly injured but recovers from the roots, 
which the weed-seedlings seldom do. Infested clover fields 
that are not treated should be cut early before the flower- 
ing of the weed, as its pollen is extremely bitter and "cuts 
the quality" of the hay even more than its dried young stalks. 
Stubbles should have surface cultivation directly after harvest 
so as to encourage germination of seeds in the soil, when the 
young plants may be killed with the harrow, or they may be 
plowed under for humus. In cultivated ground tillage should 




Fig. 318. — Commoii Ragweed 
{A?nbrosia artemisiifolia) . X ^. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



457 



be continued late, as it is the plants that bloom and fruit after 
cultivation has ceased which are most certain to foul the soil. 



PERENNIAL RAGWEED 

Ambrosia psilostdchya, DC. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of hloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Illinois to the Northwest Territory, southward to Texas, 

Mexico, and California. 
Habitat : Rich prairie soil ; invades all crops. 



This is a much harder weed to combat than its annual relatives, 
for one must have a care in cultivation 
not to break up and spread abroad the 
creeping rootstocks and thus increase 
the plague. 

The plant looks very like the smaller 
Ragweed, but is stouter and grows two 
to six feet high. Leaves once or twice 
pinnatifid, with lobes usually acute, 
thick and bristly instead of thin and 
soft. Male flowers very abundant, 
on numerous long racemes, the invo- 
lucres deeply cup-shaped ; fertile flowers 
mostly solitary, the small, brown achene- 
like fruits obovoid, hairy, short-pointed, 
with few^er tubercles than the preceding 
species or sometimes none at all : they 
are often found in grass and clover 
seed and in baled hay. (Fig. 319.) 

Means of control 

Newly infested areas, if not so large 
as to make the method impracticable, oin _ p • i p 

should have prompt treatment with a weed {Ambrosia psilostachyd) . 
strong herbicide — caustic soda or hot x I. 




458 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



brine — the soil being cleaned of all plant-growth for a season 
rather than allow the pest to gain a foothold. Large areas can 
be finally suppressed by putting the ground under cultivation, 
plowing deeply during very dry weather, and exposing the root- 
stocks as much as possible ; after this summer fallowing put in a 
hoed crop, and give such persistent and careful tillage as to kill 
surviving rootstocks by depriving them of leaf growth. 

WHITE-LEAVED FRANSERIA 



Franseria discolor, Nutt.) 
{Gaertneria discolor, Kuntze.) 

Other English names: Bur Ragweed, Creeping Ragweed. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: July to September, 
Seed-time: September to November. 

Range : The Plains region west of the Missouri River, to Wyoming, 
Colorado, and New Mexico. 

Habitat : Dry soil ; prairies ; meadows 
and pastures, cultivated fields, waste 
places. 



A near relative of the Common Rag- 
weed, but much more pernicious be- 
cause of its creeping rootstocks. Stems 
twelve to eighteen inches tall, much 
branched, and spreading, hoary with 
white hairs. Leaves alternate, smooth 
and green above but densel}^ white- 
woolly beneath, coarsely toothed, long 
and bipinnate, the lobes narrow and 
very irregular, separated by narrow, 
winged segments, the petiole similarly 
winged. Flowers of two kinds, the 
sterile ones in narrow terminal racemes, 
the heads, about one-sixth of an inch 
long, on very short pedicels ; the fertile 
heads in the axils below, singly or in 
small clusters ; the involucre forms a 
tiny bur, about a sixth of an inch long, 




Fig. 320. — White-leaved 
Franseria {Franseria discolor) . 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 459 

softly hairy, and bearing several small, sharp prickles. These 
burs are often distributed in the wool of sheep, and the weed 
is a most vexatious one to owners of flocks. (Fig. 320.) 

Means of control 

Like all weeds that keep a reserve supply of food in underground 
storage, these are very hard to kill. They must be cut close to the 
ground in early summer, while in their first bloom, and again in 
September, in order to make certain that no seed shall be matured. 
If persistently deprived of the sustenance supplied by leaf-growth 
the roots tocks must finally be starved to death. Large areas are 
best subdued by deep plowing and exposure of rootstocks in hot 
weather as recommended for Perennial Ragweed. 

WOOLLY FRANSERIA 

Franseria tomentbsa, Gray 
(Gaertneria tomentosa, Kuntze) 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: July. to September. 
Seed-time: September to November. 
Range: Montana, southward to Colorado and Kansas. 
Habitat: Moist, rich soil; cultivated ground, meadows, pastures, 
and waste places. 

Similar to the preceding plant, the two often growing in company. 
Tt is larger, the stems usually one to three feet tall, erect, branching 
from the base, covered with fine, white-woolly hair. Leaves softly 
woolly on hoik sides or silky and ashy above, pinnately three- to 
seven-lobed, with segments lance-shaped, usually toothed, the 
middle, or terminal, lobe much the largest. Sterile racemes usually 
solitary, two to four inches long, the heads crowded and a little 
larger than F. discolor. Fertile involucres usually solitary in the 
upper axils, about a quarter-inch long, softly woolly, and set with 
very sharp spines, which are finely hooked at the very tip so that 
sheep and other animals catch them at a touch and they are 
even more readily and extensively distributed than the preceding 
species. 

Means of control the same as for the preceding plant- 



460 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



SPINY CLOTBUR 

Xdnthium spinosum, L. 

Other English names : Spiny cocklebur, Thorny Burweed, Dagger- 
weed, Dagger Cocklebur, Batliurst Bur. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Ontario to Florida, westward to Illinois, Missouri, and 
Texas. Also abundant on the Pacific Coast. 

Habitat: Warm, moist soil; invades almost any crop. 

A very pernicious weed which came to us from tropical America. 
It is sometimes cultivated for the odd appearance of its white-veined, 
white-lined, dark green leaves, yellow 
spines, and green burs. But these last, 
with their hooked spines, are so easily 
transported on clothing and by animals 
that the plant should be considered an 
undesirable resident of any neighborhood, 
particularly as the fruits retain their 
vitality for years, biding the time when 
some stirring of the soil shall furnish 
them the needed warmth and moisture 
for germination. It is a worse weed than 
the other Cockleburs, for it spreads as 
freely in sod lands as elsewhere. (Fig. 
321.) 

Stem one to three feet tall, many- 
branched and hoary with whitish hairs. 
Leaves alternate, two to five inches long, 
lance-shaped, long-pointed, and narrow- 
ing to short petioles, the lower ones lobed 
and the upper ones entire, white-woolly 
underneath and on midribs and veins 
above. Just below each leaf is a slen- 
der, yellow, three-pronged spine about an 
inch long. Flowers of two kinds, the staminate ones in short 
terminal spikes, the heads very small and greenish, like the 
Ragweed. Fertile flowers in the axils below, consisting of a 




Fig. 321. — Spmy Clot- 
bur {Xanthium spinosum). 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 461 

pistil with its cleft style slightly exserted from a hairy and 
spiny involucre which later becomes a bur about a half- 
inch long, with two straight beaks at apex and a covering of 
short, smooth, hooked spines. The burs are two-celled, each cav- 
ity containing a thick-coated, dark brown, flattened seed. 

Means of control 

In pastures and meadows the plants should be watched for and 
cut off in May or June with a sharp hoe or spud ; some will be over- 
looked, to appear conspicuously later, bristling with spines and 
burs ; these should be cut, piled to dry for a few days, and burned. 
In cultivated ground tillage should be continued late in order to 
prevent the development of seed from late-blooming flowers. 

CLOTBUR 

Xdnthium canadense, Mill. 

Other English names: Cocklebur, Sheepbur, Buttonbur, Ditchbur, 

Hedgehog Burweed. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Tiine of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: September to November. 
Range: Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territory, southward to 

Texas and Mexico. Abundant on the Pacific Coast. 
Habitat : Rich, moist soil ; cultivated crops, barnyards, roadsides, 

and waste places. 

A huge, coarse plant, one to four feet tall, branched, and widely 
spreading, its rough, thick, angled stem often reddish and spotted 
with brown. Leaves also bristly rough on both sides, alternate, 
large, broadly oval to heart-shaped, with toothed edges, strongly 
three-nerved and often three-lobed, with long, rigid petioles, often 
reddish like the stem and contrasting with the dark green of the 
leaf surface. The sterile heads are clustered at the ends of the 
branches, small, greenish, and inconspicuous, resembling those 
of Ragweed; below, in the axils, the fertile heads are densely 
clustered ; these are thick, green, oblong, densely hairy, and spiny 
involucres, from which is thrust a style with two-parted stigma ; 
these involucres develop into burs nearly an inch long, with a 



462 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



4!!^ 



pair of strong, hooked beaks at the tip and a covering of hooked 
spines which enable them to cUng to a garment or to the coats of 
animals for a ride to new homes. Each bur contains two "seeds," 
or achenes, oblong, flat, slightly ridged, with a tough, black coat, 

or skin. It is believed that one 
of the pair germinates the first 
season and the other the next, 
thus assuring a two-years' crop for 
one sowing. But the entire bur 
is also known to lie dormant in 
the soil for several years. Sev- 
eral other species of Clotbur are 
common and all are about as 
obnoxious as this one but none 
ranges so widely as X. canadense. 
(Fig. 322.) 



Means of control 

Hoe-cutting while the plants are 
small ; or, if not too numerous, 
hand-pulling before the burs are 
formed. Put infested corn land to 
a grain crop, followed by clover or grass, the harvesting of any 
of which beheads the weed before it has attained to much size or 
developed the burs. In its tender youth (three to eight inches in 
height) Clotbur can be killed by a spray of Iron sulfate or Copper 
sulfate. Plants on waste land or roadside which have been 
allowed to mature their burs should be cut and burned. 




Fig. 



322. — Clotbur 
canadense) . 



(X anthium 
Xi. 



BLACK-EYED SUSAN 
Rudheckia hlrta, L. 

Other English names: Yellow Daisy, Golden Jerusalem, Darkey- 
head, Nigger-head, Ox-eye Daisy. 

Native. Biennial. Propagates by seed. 

Time of bloom: June to October. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: United States and Canadian Provinces east of the Rocky 
Mountains. 

Habitat : Prairies ; meadows and pastures, waste places. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



463 



A plant once known only on western prairies, 
but now common in eastern fields, the wide 
and rapid distribution having been accom- 
plished by impure commercial seeds and baled 
hay, of which the refuse is spread on the 
fields. 

Stems one to three feet tall, simple or 
branching near the base, rather stout, bristly 
hairy. Leaves alternate, oblong, two to six 
inches in length, thick, hairy, pointed at 
both ends, entire, or slightly wavy-toothed, the 
lower ones spatulate, three-nerved and with 
grooved petioles, those on the stalks sessile 
and clasping. Heads two to four inches broad, 
solitary on long hairy peduncles, the rounded 
disk brownish purple, its florets perfect and 
fertile, the long sterile rays brilliant orange. 
Bracts of the involucre in two or three rows, 
spreading, rough and hairy. Achenes black or 
very dark brown, about an eighth of an inch 
long, narrow, four-angled and without a pap- 
pus. (Fig. 323.) 

,^ ^ ^ Fig. 323. — Black- 

Means of control eyed Susan {Rud- 

Being biennial, this weed is readily sup- ^^^A^mMrta). x i. 
pressed by pulling or close cutting before its seeds develop. But 
care must be taken that it is not continually reintroduced in 
poorly cleaned seed. 




PURPLE CONE-FLOWER 

Brauneria purpurea, Britton 

Other English names: Red Sunflower, Black Sampson. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range : Virginia to Missouri, southward to the Carolinas, Alabama, 

and Louisiana. Locafly in the Northern States from New York 

to Michigan. 
Habitat: Meadows, fence rows, and waste places. 



464 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




Fig. 324. — Purple Cone-flower 
(Brauneria purpurea) . X |. 



The range of this weed Is being 
rapidly extended by the agency of 
baled hay and grass seeds. It is a 
handsome plant, two to four feet 
tall, with slender, rough-hairy stem, 
usually without branches. Leaves 
dark green, three to eight inches in 
length, alternate or the lower ones 
opposite, lance-shaped, hairy, long- 
pointed, the lower ones five-ribbed, 
toothed, and petioled, the upper ones 
entire and sessile. Heads large, soli- 
tary, with a conical disk having deep 
purple, tubular, perfect, and fertile 
florets surrounded by twelve to 
twenty large, drooping rays which 
are pistillate but sterile ; these are 
dull magenta-red, about two inches 
long, notched at their tips. Bracts 
of the involucre imbricated in three 
to five rows, rather soft and lax, 
nearly linear, and finely hairy. 
Achenes short and thick, the pappus 
a toothed crown. (Fig. 324.) 



Means of control 

If the infestation is new and the area not too large, it will pay to 
rid the soil of the perennial roots by hand-pulling the plants before 
the development of seed. Rankly infested ground requires to be 
put under cultivation. 



PRAIRIE CONE-FLOWER 

Lepachys columndris, T. & G. 
{Ratihida columndris, D. Don.) 

Other English names: Long-headed Cone-flower, Cone-headed 

Daisy. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : May to August. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



465 



Seeed-time: June to September. 

Range: Minnesota, to the Northwest Territory, southward to 

Texas and Arizona. Also in Tennessee and locally in the Eastern 

States. 
Habitat: Meadows, roadsides, and waste land. 

Like its relatives, the Black-eyed Susan 
and Purple Cone-flow^er, this plant has 
been introduced in a number of widely 
separated localities by the agency of 
western baled hay and grass seeds. 
Stem one to nearly three feet tall, 
branching from the base, slender and 
beset with stiff, bristly hairs. Leaves 
alternate, dark green, thick, rough-hairy, 
strongly ribbed, pinnately divided into 
narrow, long-pointed segments ; those 
on the stem are sessile or have very 
short petioles ; those at the base have 
long, slender petioles and fewer seg- 
ments ; occasionally some are undi- 
vided and oblong. The heads have 
an elongated, cone-shaped, or nearly 
cylindrical disk, often more than an 
inch in length, set with grayish brow'n 
florets, perfect and fertile, the corollas 
five-lobed but with very short tubes ; 
rays neutral, four to ten in number, large 
and drooping, yellow with a brownish 
purple base or wholly of the darker 
color. Achenes short and flattened, with 
winged margins, and a pappus of one or two awl-like teeth. (Fig. 
325.) 

Means of control should be the same as for the Purple Cone- 
flower. 

COMMON SUNFLOWER 

Helidnthus dnnuus, L. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
2h 




Fig. 325. — Prairie Cone- 
flower (Lepachys columnaris). 



466 COM POSIT AE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Minnesota to the Northwest Territory, and southward to 

Missouri and Texas. Locally in the Eastern States. 
Habitat: Meadows, waste places, fence rows, roadsides. 

When kept within bounds this is a useful plant, w^hich for many 
years has been extensively cultivated both in this country and in 
Europe. A fine, clear oil is expressed from its seeds, which are also 
a very nutritious and fattening food for poultry, horses, and other 
stock. Its leaves also are considered good fodder. 

In rich soil some of the cultivated forms attain to fifteen feet 
in height, with flower-heads a foot or more across. But in its native 
home on the western prairies the stout, rough stem is usually three 
to eight feet tall, branching at the top. Leaves three inches to a 
foot in length, broadly oval, pointed, three-ribbed, rough on both 
sides, with stout, hairy petioles. Heads three to six inches broad, 
with many large, bright yellow, sterile rays ; disk-florets tubular, 
five-lobed, dark purple or brown, perfect, and fertile. Involucre 
depressed with oblong, rough-hairy, and sharp-pointed bracts. 
Achenes large, oblong, nearly smooth, grayish brown with white 
marginal stripes, with a deciduous pappus of two to four thin 
chafTy scales. 

Means of control 

The weed is readily subdued by cultivation of the soil ; but in 
meadows and other ground where tillage is not practicable, seed de- 
velopment should be prevented by cutting or pulling the plants while 
in their first bloom. Plants growing along roadsides, banks of 
streams, and waste places should have like treatment. 



STIFF SUNFLOWER 

Helidnthus scaberrimus, Ell, 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Tijne of bloom: August to September. 

Seed-time : September to October. 

Range : Michigan to the Saskatchewan, and southward to Illinois, 

Colorado, and Texas. 
Habitat: Meadows, waste places, borders of streams. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 467 

Stems rough, stout, woody, three to eight feet in height, simple or 
with a few branches at the top. Leaves three to six inches long, 
lance-shaped, pointed at both ends, thick and leathery, rigid, rough 
on both sides, with sharp but shallow teeth or sometimes entire, and 
are mostly sessile, only the lowermost ones narrowing to a short, 
rigid petiole. Heads few, usually solitary at the ends of stem and 
branches, two to four inches broad, with twenty to twenty-five 
light yellow sterile rays ; the fertile disk-florets are purplish 
brown. i\.chenes oblong, hairy, crowned with two broad scales 
and often with several small, sharp-pointed awns. 

Means of control 

Most readily suppressed by cultivation of the soil, which destroys 
the perennial roots ; or by frequent and close cutting during the 
growing season, which starves the roots and prevents seed develop- 
ment. 

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE 

Helidnthus tuber bsus, L. 

Other English names: Tuberous Sunflower, Earth Apple, Girasole, 
Canada Potato. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by short, tuber- 
bearing rootstocks. 

Time of hloom : August to September. 

Seed-time : September to October. 

Range: New Brunswick and Ontario to the Northwest Territory, 
southward to Georgia and Arkansas. 

Habitat: Hummocks in swamps; meadows, fields, roadsides, and 
waste places. 

Long before the white men came to America the Indians were 
rudely cultivating this native plant for its edible tubers, which are 
fleshy and sweet and afford very nourishing food for man and 
beast. And so persistent is it when once established that some of 
the aboriginal patches are said to be still productive. The plant 
will grow almost anywhere, but it thrives best and the tubers grow 
largest in moist and mellow soil. Stems stout, erect, rough-hairy, 
four to twelve feet tall and branching at the top. Leaves four to 
eight inches long, ovate, pointed, thick, firm, three-nerved, saw- 
toothed, rough on the upper side, finely hairy beneath, tapering 



468 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



abruptly to a hairy petiole ; the lower ones opposite (sometimes 
in whorls of three), the upper ones alternate. Heads about three 
inches broad, with twelve to twenty bright yellow sterile rays. 
Disk-florets perfect and fertile, tubular, five-lobed, and lighter 

yellow than the rays. Involucre 
hemispheric, its spreading bracts 
lance-shaped, sharp-pointed, and 
hairy. Achenes wedge-shaped, 
four-sided, hairy on the angles, 
crowned with a pair of awl-shaped 
scales or awns which quickly fall 
away. (Fig. 326.) 

Means of control 

Artichokes are very fattening, 
and a profitable way of clearing 
the ground of their presence is by 
turning in hogs to pasture — with 
untrammeled snouts — in the au- 
tumn, when the tubers are most 
crisp and succulent. Or the root- 
stocks may be starved by close and 
persistent cutting of the stalks in 
early summer, when their stored 
sustenance is most nearly depleted, allowing no new growth of 
leaves for replenishment. Dry salt on the shorn surfaces is an 
effective aid in checking new growth. 




Fig. 326. — Jerusalem Artichoke 



(Helianthus tuberosus) . 



X k. 



WINGED IRONWEED 

Actinomeris alternifolia, DC. 
{Verbesina alternifolia, Brit.) 

Other English names: Yellow Ironweed, Wingstem. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: August to September. 

Seed-time: September to October. 

Range: New York and New Jersey to Ontario, Iowa, and Kansas, 

southward to Florida and Louisiana. 
Habitat: Meadows and pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 469 

A tall, unsightly weed, growing almost anywhere but with a pref- 
erence for rich, moist, bottom-lands and borders of streams. Stem 
three to nine feet in height, hairy, erect, branching near the top, 
winged by the decurrent leaf-bases, very hard and woody when 
mature and therefore troublesome to harvesting machines. Leaves 
four inches to a foot long, lance-shaped, feather-veined, saw-toothed, 
usually rough on both sides, pointed at both ends, the upper ones 
mostly extending downward on the stem. Heads numerous in 
large, corymbose terminal clusters ; they have two to ten drooping, 
pale yellow neutral rays of irregular size (occasionally none at 
all), and a darker yellow, globose disk, containing about thirty 
fertile florets. Bracts of the involucre spreading or deflexed, one- 
to three-rowed. Achenes broadly wedge-shaped, flattened, and 
winged with a pappus of two diverging awns. 

Means of control 

The deep perennial roots are most effectively dealt with by 
thorough cultivation of the ground ; where that is impracticable, 
they may be starved by close cutting in May and June, and again in 
August and September, salt being used on the shorn surfaces in 
order to retard recovery. Small areas may be grubbed out or hand- 
pulled when the ground is soft. 

SUNFLOWER CROWNBEARD 

Verbeslna helianthoides, Michx. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to July. 

Seed-time: July to August. 

Range: Ohio to Iowa, southward to Georgia and Texas. 

Habitat: Dry fields, meadows, and waste places. 

Another pernicious Composite, which, like Black-eyed Susan, is 
broadening its range by the agencies of commercial seeds and baled 
hay. Stem, stout, simple, hairy, two to four feet tall, widely four- 
winged by the decurrent bases of the alternate leaves ; these are 
two to four inches long, narrowly ovate, rough above but softly 
hairy on the under sides, saw-toothed, and sessile. Heads few in 
a cluster or solitary, two or three inches broad, with conical disk 



470 



COMPOSITAE (.COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



and eight to fifteen yellow neutral or sometimes pistillate but ster- 
ile rays ; involucre hemispheric, about a half-inch high, its bracts 
closely appressed, lance-shaped, and gray-hairy. Achenes flattened, 
rough-hairy, with winged border and pappus of two divergent 
awns. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development and distribution by close cutting while 
in first bloom. Rankly infested ground should be put under culti- 
vation in order to destroy the perennial roots, but small areas may 
profitably be hand-pulled or grubbed out. 




Fig. 327. — Golden 
Crownbeard (Verbesina 
encelioides) . X j. 



GOLDEN CROWNBEARD 

Verbesina encelioides, B. & H. 
(Ximenesia encelioides, Cav.) 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of blootn: June to August. 
Seed-time : July to September. 
Range: Montana southward to Arizona 

and Texas, to Florida. 
Habitat : Fields, meadows, and waste 

places. 

A very common weed in its range, 
which is rapidly extending, the plant 
having appeared locally as far east as 
Maine. It intrudes in nearly all crops, 
appropriating an injurious amount of the 
soil fertility. 

Stem one to two feet tall, much branched 
and densely hairy. Leaves alternate, 
ovate, abruptly narrowed or heart-shaped 
at base, irregularly but sharply toothed, 
the upper surface green, but beneath pale 
with a covering of ashy-gray hairs ; peti- 
oles usually winged and often having a 
spreading, auricular appendage at base. 
Heads numerous, one to two inches 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



471 



broad, with twelve to fifteen pistillate and fertile bright golden 
rays, three-toothed at tips ; disk florets perfect and fertile, brown- 
ish yellow ; involucre about one-half inch high with lance-shaped, 
spreading, hairy bracts. Achenes of the disk florets narrowly 
obovate, flattened, hairy, broadly winged, with a pappus of 
two needle-like awns ; those of the rays thickened, rough- 
wrinkled and usually without awns or wings. (Fig. 327.) 



Means of control 

Prevent seed production. In grain fields the weed seedlings, may 
be harrowed out in spring when the crop is but a few inches above 
the ground. Plants which survive this 
treatment may profitably be hand-pulled, 
the increased returns paying for the labor. 
Grasslands should be harvested before 
the first flowers mature, and all waste 
places receive attention. 

LANCE-LEAVED TICKSEED 

Coreopsis lanceoldta, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : May to August. 
Seed-twie: June to September. _ 
Range: Western Ontario to Virginia and 

Florida. Locally in the Eastern States. 
Habitat: Meadows, fence rows, roadsides, 

and thickets. 

A plant often cultivated because of the 
showy beauty of its flowers, and freely 
escaping. Stem one to two feet in height, 
branching from the lower part, smooth, or 
slightly downy near the base. Leaves op- 
posite, two to six inches long, lance-shaped 
or the lowest spatulate, tapering to petioles 

which partly clasp the stem; upper ones „ „,^„ , 

., „ . . , , , TT 1 ^iG. 328. — Lance- 

sessile, all entire, with rough edges. Heads leaved Tickseed {Coreopsis 

solitarv, about two inches broad, on slen- lanceolata). x \. 




472 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

der, naked peduncles often a foot in length; disk florets 
perfect, fertile, the five-lobed corollas purplish brown ; rays 
six to ten, neutral, bright yellow, broadest at apex, and three- 
lobed with the middle lobe notched. Involucre hemispheric, its 
bracts in two rows, the outer ones narrower than the inner and 
not so long. Achenes rounded oblong, broadly winged, crowned 
with two short teeth. (Fig. 328.) 

Means of control 

Prevention of seeding by repeated cutting, which will also 
finally starve the roots. Cultivation of the soil at once destroys 
the weed. 

TALL TICKSEED 

Coreopsis tripteris, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Pennsylvania to Wisconsin, southward to Florida and 

Louisiana. 
Habitat : Meadows, fence rows, open woods, and thickets. 

A tall, graceful species, common in Southern and Western States 
and sometimes cultivated and escaping in the East. Stem three to 
eight feet high, round, smooth, slender, branching at the top. 
Leaves opposite, three to six inches or more in length, thick, firm, 
the lower ones usually three-parted with entire, lance-shaped seg- 
ments ; upper leaves undivided, lance-shaped, entire, all with rough 
edges and pinnate veins. Heads very many, about an inch and a 
half broad, on slender peduncles, in open corymbose clusters ; rays 
six to ten, obtuse, entire, bright golden yellow; disks brownish; 
outer bracts of the involucre linear, obtuse, spreading, united at 
base, much narrower than the ovate, pointed, inner ones ; when 
rolled between the fingers the heads exhale the odor of anise. 
Achenes oblong elliptic, narrowly winged, and without a pappus. 

Means of control 

Prevention of seeding and starvation of the roots by persistent 
cutting. Hand-pulling or grubbing out the roots. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



473 



BEGGAR-TICKS 

Bidens frondosa, L. 

Other English names: Bur Marigold, Stick-tight, Devil's Bootjack, 

Pitchfork Weed. 
Native. Annual. Propagates by seed. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : Throughout United States and southern British America. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; gardens, fields, pastures, roadsides, and waste 

places. 

All the Bidens are most annoying weeds and this one is perhaps 
the most so because it is everywhere. Stem two to five feet high, 
erect, smooth or nearly so, often 
purplish in color, with spreading 
branches. Leaves opposite, usually 
smooth, the lower ones generally 
five-lobed with terminal segments 
long-pointed and often again di- 
vided; upper ones three-parted or 
sometimes lance-shaped, all sharply 
toothed ; petioles slender, and 
grooved on the upper side. Heads 
numerous, about a half-inch long, on 
slender peduncles ; involucre double, 
wdth an outer row of five to eight 
leafy and spreading bracts, spatu- 
late, with edges hairy at base, much 
exceeding the heads in length; the 
inner row short, with scarious mar- 
gins ; rays, when present, yellow, 
very small and inconspicuous, sterile ; 
disk-florets tubular, orange-yellow, 
five-toothed, perfect, and fertile. 
Achenes wedge-shaped, black, flat, 
ridged doAvn the center of each face, the apex bearing two di- 
verging, downwardly barbed awns, which enable them to attach 
themselves to clothing and to the coats of animals, particularly 
sheep, and so ensure a wide distribution. (Fig. 329.) 




Fig. 



329. — Beggar-ticks (Bidens 
frondosa). X j. 



474 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by mowing, hoe-cutting, or hand-pulling 
the pests while in first bloom or earlier. Cultivation of the soil 
destroys it and good drainage is a discouragement to this weed, 
for it prefers the ground damp. 



BIG BEGGAR-TICK 

Bidens vulgata, Greene 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Ontario to British Columbia, southward throughout the 

United States, but not common in the eastern part. 
Habitat: Moist soil; fields, waste places. 

Much taller than the preceding plant, sometimes attaining eight 
feet or more, smooth, and much branched. Leaves pinna tely three- 
to five-parted, with slender petioles and long-pointed, coarsely 
toothed leaflets. Heads large, often an inch or more broad, on 
stout peduncles ; involucre of ten to sixteen outer bracts, usually 
longer than the disk, bristle-edged, unequal ; the inner row short, 
with abruptly narrowed tips ; rays when present, pale yellow, small, 
neutral; disk-florets funnel-form, four- to five-toothed, also pale 
yellow. Achenes oblong wedge-shaped, brown or olive, very flat, 
the faces usually smooth but sometimes roughened with fine tuber- 
cles, the awns and the upper part of the achenes downwardly 
barbed. 

Means of control the same as for the preceding species. 



LEAFY-BRACTED TICKSEED 

Bidens comosa, Wiegand 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range : Maine to Minnesota, southward to Colorado, Georgia, and 

Louisiana. 
Habitat : Moist rich soil ; fields, banks of streams, waste places. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 475 

Stem one to three feet high, stout, erect, smooth, pale green, with 
short, stout branches. Leaves Hght green, lance-shaped, regularly 
toothed, pointed at both ends, with winged petioles or the upper 
ones sessile. Heads large, on short, stout peduncles, the outer 
bracts of the involucre six to eight, lance-shaped, large, and leaf- 
like, often toothed, erect, their height sometimes two to five times 
exceeding the disk; rays wanting; disk-florets funnel-shaped, 
four-lobed, pale yellow. Achenes brown or olive, nearly a half- 
inch in length, flat, smooth or nearly so, three-awned, the outer ones 
nearly three-fourths as long as the achene, the central one usually 
shorter, and all barbed downward. 

Control of the weed depends on allowing none of the plants to 
mature their fruits, 

SWAMP BEGGAR-TICKS 

Bidens connata, Muhl. 

Other English names: Purple-stemmed Stickseed, Harvest Lice. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: New England to Minnesota, southward to the Carolinas 

and Missouri. 
Habitat: Wet meadows and fields, banks of streams, and ditches. 

This native American has established itself in Europe, where it 
is very cordially disliked. Stem one to six feet or more tall, erect, 
smooth, purple, branching freely. Leaves deep green, usually 
undivided or some of the lower ones three-cleft, narrowly lance- 
shaped, coarsely toothed, mth long, slender petioles. Heads 
about a half-inch broad, numerous, on short, slender peduncles, 
the outer bracts of the involucre few, obtuse, entire, extending not 
far above the head ; rays usually wanting, but, when present, golden 
yellow; disk florets orange-yellow, five-lobed. Achenes dark 
brown, rather thick, wedge-shaped, tubercled, four-angled, four- 
awned, or the outer row flattened on one side and three-awned, 
the sides of achene and awns downwardly barbed. 

Means of control 

Drainage and cultivation of the ground ; prevention of seeding 
by frequent, close cutting. 



476 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



NODDING BUR MARIGOLD 

Bidens cernua, L. 

Other English names : Double-tooth, Water Agrimony. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to British Columbia, southward to the Caro- 

linas, Missouri, and California ; also in Europe and Asia. 
Habitat: Marshy meadows, swamps, and along streams. 



This species, usually in company with the similar, but larger, 
Brook Sunflower (Bidens laevis, B.S.P.), often covers acres of 
lowlands with yellow bloom, to be suc- 
ceeded by the clutching brown fruits. It 
is small, six to thirty inches high, pale 
green, smooth, or sometimes slightly 
rough-hairy, rather stout, with short 
branches. Leaves opposite, narrowly 
lance-shaped, sessile, often joined at base, 
edged with coarse, distant, and unequal 
teeth. Heads numerous, large, broader 
than their height, the peduncles short and 
at first erect but drooping after fertiliza- 
tion ; rays often lacking, but, when pres- 
ent, bright yellow, exceeding the length 
of the disk by about one-half ; disk-florets 
orange-yellow, five-lobed ; outer bracts of 
the involucre longer than the head, usually 
bristle-fringed and spreading ; the inner 
row short, ovate, pointed, with yellowish, 
scarious margins. Achenes wedge-shaped, 
dull brown, four-angled, four-awned, an- 
gles and awns barbed downward, causing 
these fruits to be even more readily at- 
tached to clothing and the coats of animals than those of the 
preceding species. (Fig. 330.) 

The same measures for suppression are necessary as for the 
Swamp Beggar-tick. 




Fig. 330. — Nodding Bur 
Marigold (Bidens cernua). 
X i 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



477 



SPANISH NEEDLES 

Bidens hijpinnata, L. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Rhode Island to Nebraska and Arizona, southward to 

Florida and Mexico. Also in Europe and Asia. 
Habitat: Gardens, fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

Satisfied if the soil is only moderately moist, this weed often 
makes itself troublesome in fields of Indian corn and other cultivated 
crops, maturing seeds after the horse- 
hoe culture has ceased. Stems slender 
with many spreading branches, one to 
five feet tall, erect, smooth, and four- 
sided. Leaves pinnately twice or thrice 
divided, the segments broadly lance- 
shaped, deeply cut and toothed, op- 
posite or the uppermost sometimes al- 
ternate ; petioles slender and grooved. 
Heads usually numerous, on long, ridged, 
and angular peduncles ; outer bracts 
of the involucre linear, shorter than 
the inner ones which are broader and 
acutely pointed ; rays small and few, 
pale yellow with dark veins ; disk-florets 
yellow and five-lobed. Achenes brown, 
nearly three-fourths of an inch long, 
slim, spindle-shaped, four-angled, usu- 
ally tipped with four rather short, awl- 
like, diverging awns, barbed downward. 

^ ^^' '^ - Fig. 331. — Spanish Needles 

{Bidens bipinnata). X j. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production, continuing the tillage of cultivated 
crops late or hand-pulling the late-flowering remnant of the weed 
growth. All waste-land plants should be cut several times during 
the growing season. 




478 COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

TICKSEED SUNFLOWER 

Bidens trichosperma, Britton 

Native. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Massachusetts to Georgia, and inland to Kentucky and 

Illinois. 
Habitat: Marshy meadows and swamps, banks of streams, and 

often in drier situations, along roadsides and in waste places. 

Stem smooth, obscurely four-sided, two to five feet in height, 
much branched. Leaves pinnately three- to seven-lobed, with 
short, grooved petioles, the segments narrowly lance-shaped, 
pointed, and sharply toothed ; uppermost ones sometimes undivided, 
sessile or nearly so. Heads many, about two inches broad, on 
slender peduncles, in loose, corymbose clusters ; involucre nearly 
hemispheric, the outer bracts linear to spatulate, extending scarcely 
at all beyond the broader inner ones; rays about an inch long, 
obtuse at tips, entire, bright golden yellow. Achenes narrowly 
wedge-shaped, crowned with two short, stout, three-angled awns. 

Despite its beauty, the weed should be destroyed in the same 
manner as Bidens frondosa. 

WESTERN TICKSEED SUNFLOWER 

Bidens aristosa, Britton 

Native. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seed. 

Ti7ne of bloorn : August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range : Ohio and Michigan to Minnesota, southward to Mississippi 

and Louisiana. 
Habitat: Prairies, moist meadows, swamps, banks of streams, and 

ditches. 

Stem one to three feet tall, slender, and much branched. Leaves 
pinnately five- to seven-lobed, the segments slenderly lance-shaped, 
pointed at both ends, sharply cut and toothed, slender-petioled, 
softly hairy on the under side ; upper leaves with fewer lobes on 
very short petioles, or lance-shaped and sessile. Heads numerous, 
one to two inches broad, on slender peduncles, in loose, open 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



479 



clusters ; outer bracts of the invo- 
lucre eight to ten, linear or spatu- 
late, not exceeding the inner row; 
rays six to ten, broad, obtuse, bright 
golden yellow. Achenes obovoid, flat, 
rough-hairy, tipped with two (occa- 
sionally four) slender, diverging awns, 
sometimes as long as the achene itself 
or sometimes reduced to short teeth ; 
the barbs on the awns and on the sides 
of the achenes are on some directed 
downward, on others upward. (Fig. 
332.) 

Means of suppression the same as 
for Bidens frondosa. 

TAR WEED 

Madia saliva, Molina 




Fig. 332. — Western Tickseed 
Sunflower {Bidens aristosa) . 



Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to October. 

Seed-lime: June to November. 

Range: Pacific Coast from California to Washington. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

A most unpleasant weed, covered with a viscid, ill-scented excre- 
tion which injures everything that it touches, from the crops among 
which it is harvested to the clothing of passers-by. None of the 
native Tarweeds are so offensive as this, which is an immigrant from 
Chile. A remarkably sweet and limpid oil is expressed from the 
seeds, good for table use and particularly valuable for a lubricant, 
as it does not readily congeal ; in order to obtain this oil the plant is 
extensively cultivated in South America and in Europe. Stem 
stout, one to four feet tall, finely hairy, beset with viscid, pedicel- 
late glands. Leaves alternate, entire, varying from broad lance- 
shape below to linear above, all sticky and strong-scented. Heads 
numerous, sessile or on short peduncles at the ends of the short 
branches and in the upper axils ; they are about three-fourths of an 
inch broad, with eight to twelve pale yellow rays and darker disk. 



480 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



Both ray and disk florets are fertile ; bracts of the involucre in a 
single series, strongly keeled, and hairy. Disk achenes are oblong, 
wedge-shaped, and four-angled, those of the rays longer and curved. 
As soon as ripe they fall readily from the receptacle, and nearly 
matured plants should never be left on the ground when cut as the 
seeds ripen on the stalks. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by close and repeated cutting through- 
out the growing season. 

GALINSOGA 

Galinsbga parviflora, Cav. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to November. 

Seed-time: July to December. 

Range : Massachusetts to Oregon, south- 
ward to Georgia and Mexico. 

Habitat : Gardens, roadsides, and waste 
places. 

An immigrant from South America 
which has also crossed the ocean and 
been reported as troublesome in southern 
Europe. Stem one to two feet tall, 
pale green, slender, many-branched and 
spreading, sparsely clothed with ap- 
pressed hairs. Leaves opposite, ovate, 
thin, three-nerved, scallop-toothed, acute 
at apex, the lower ones narrowing to 
slender petioles, the upper ones sessile 
or nearly so. Heads, hardly a quarter- 
inch broad, solitary on short, slender 
peduncles, terminal and in the upper 
axils ; rays white, very short, three- 
toothed, pistillate, fertile; disk-florets 
yellow, perfect, and fertile ; bracts of 
the involucre smooth, the outer row 
shorter. Achenes very small, dark, 
four-sided, wedge-shaped, finely hairy. (Fig. 333.) 




Fig. 333. — Galinsoga {Ga 
linsoga parviflora). X |. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



481 



Means of control 

Prevent seed production by pulling or hoe-cutting when in first 
flower. In cultivated ground the weed is destroyed by the tillage 
of the crop. 

SNEEZEWEED 

Helenium autumnale, L. 

Other English names: Sneezewort, Staggerweed, Swamp Sunflower, 
False Sunflower, Yellow Star. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seed. 

Time of bloom : August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November, 

Range: Quebec to Manitoba and the Northwest Territory, south- 
ward to Florida, Texas, and Arizona. 

Habitat: Wet meadows, swamps, and along streams and ditches. 



The pollen from this plant, when inhaled, causes violent sneezing 
and the powdered flower-heads are used in medicine for that pur- 
pose. The weed is poisonous, acrid, and pungently bitter, the 
flowers especially so. Horses, cattle, 
and sheep are sometimes killed by it ; 
with milch cows a few mouthfuls are 
sufficient to taint the dairy products. 
Animals usually avoid the plant, but 
it is said that if a little is eaten an ab- 
normal appetite is quickly formed, and 
then a sufficient quantity is taken to 
cause convulsions and death. 

Stems two to five feet tall, slender, 
very pale green, angled and winged, 
branching at the top. Leaves alternate, 
firm, oblong to elliptic, rather coarsely 
toothed, pointed at both ends, sessile 
and decurrent on the stems, forming 
narrow wings. Heads numerous, often 
nearly two inches broad, borne at the 
ends of many short branches at the 
top of the stem ; rays drooping, wedge- 
shaped, three-toothed at the tip, bright 
2i 




Fig. 334. — Sneezeweed 
{Helenium autumnale). X \. 



482 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

golden yellow, pistillate and fertile ; disks greenish yellow, hemi- 
spherical, the florets perfect and fertile; bracts of the invo- 
lucre narrow and pointed, hairy, reflexed. Achene slenderly top- 
shaped, ribbed, and hairy, with a pappus of five to eight chaffy, 
awned scales ; these achenes are too often an impurity of grass 
seeds and are a most obnoxious contamination. (Fig. 334.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production. Where not so abundant as to make the 
task impracticable, it pays to hand-pull this noxious plant in order 
to rid the ground of its perennial roots. Rankly infested grass- 
lands should be put under cultivation for a season. Drainage of 
the ground is discouraging to the growth of this plant, for it prefers 
the soil wet. 

PURPLE-HEADED SNEEZEWEED 

Helenium nudiflorum, Nutt. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seed. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time : August to November. ^ 

Range : Virginia to Illinois and Missouri, southward to Florida and 

Texas. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; wet meadows, sides of streams, and ditches. 

The range of this poisonous weed has been greatly widened by 
the agencies of impure commercial seeds and baled hay ; it is now 
locally abundant in New England and Pennsylvania and through 
the Middle West, The plant hybridizes with its sister autumiiale, 
transmitting to the progeny its own earlier habit of bloom by which 
the weed is made more obnoxious. 

Stem one to three feet tall, slender, angled, and narrowly winged 
by decurrent leaf bases, branching near the top, the younger foliage 
sparsely hairy. Leaves narrow lance-shaped to linear or the lower 
ones spatulate and toothed, the upper ones entire, sessile, and 
decurrent on the stem. Heads numerous, clustered at the ends of 
the many short branches, each about an inch and a half broad ; 
disks bulging to nearly globular form, purplish brown, the florets 
perfect and fertile; rays pistillate but sterile, drooping, three- 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



483 



toothed at tips, yellow, often shading 
into brown at their bases, sometimes 
entirely browm, occasionally lacking, 
hence the name nudiflorum. Seeds 
oblong, hairy, the pappus of five or 
more awned scales. (Fig. 335.) 

Means of control the same as for the 
autumn Sneezeweed. 



FINE-LEAVED SNEEZEWEED 

Helenium tenufolium, Nutt. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : Early August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Virginia to Kansas, southward 
to Florida and Texas. 

Habitat : Prairies ; moist meadows, road- 
sides, and waste places. 




This plant is rapidly extending its 
range, being locally established as far 
north as Massachusetts and Ohio ; it is piQ 335. _ Purple-headed 

considered quite as noxious as the larger, Sneezeweed {Helenium nudi- 

perennial species, several cases having fl^^^^-) ^ *• 
been reported from the Gulf States w^here it has proved fatal to 
grazing horses and mules. Neat cattle do not seem to be so 
dangerously affected, but the w^ed is often the cause of bitter milk. 
The bitter, acrid properties are not dissipated by drying and 
therefore the young plants are very objectionable in meadows, 
being harvested with the hay and sharply " cutting" its quality. 
Stem eight to twenty inches tall, slender, smooth, much branched 
above, forming a bushy head. Leaves very numerous, smooth, 
linear, almost thread-like, sessile, often fascicled. Heads many, 
about an inch broad, with six to ten short, drooping, yellow rays, 
fanshaped, toothed at the tips, pistillate and fertile ; disk yellow^, 
globose, the florets perfect and fertile ; bracts of the involucre 
linear, soon reflexed. Achenes angled and hairy, with a pappus 
of short, bristle-tipped scales. 



484 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



Means of control 

Prevent seed production by close cutting or hand-pulling when 
the plant is in first bloom. 



BLANKET FLOWER 

Gailldrdia aristdta, Pursh. 

Other English name: Great-flowered Gaillardia. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloom : May to September. 
Seed-time: June to October. 

Range: Minnesota to British Columbia, southward to Colorado, 

New Mexico, and Texas. 
Habitat : Plains and prairies ; mead- 
ows and pastures. 



This plant is cultivated in eastern 
flower gardens for its beauty, and 
frequently escapes to roadsides and 
fields where it rivals Black-eyed 
Susan for showiness. Stems one to 
three feet tall, sometimes branched 
but usually simple, very slender, 
clothed with jointed hairs. Leaves 
rather thick, also finely hairy, the 
basal ones with petioles ; they are 
exceedingly variable, some being 
lance-shaped, others spatulate ; 
some deeply cut, even pinnatifid, 
others entire ; some plants have 
leaves all basal, while others have a 
few stem leaves which are sessile. 
Heads large, two to four inches 
across, the rounded disk of a pur- 
plish brown, the tubular florets with 
fringed lobes and protruding forked 
styles, also reddish brown, very long 
and fine ; rays yellow, long, wedge- 
shaped, toothed at the tips ; bracts 




Fig. 336. — Blanket Flower (Gail- 
lardia aristaia). X i. 



COMPOSITAE (.COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



485 



of the involucre lance-shaped, pointed, hairy on both sides, reflexed. 
Achenes small, brown, top-shaped nutlets, hairy at the base and 
crowned with a half-dozen or more bristly awns. (Fig. 336.) 

Means of control 

No composite flower, however beautiful, should be permitted 
to give its seeds to the wind's will. In gardens the blossoms should 
be clipped as they fade, and where the plants "blanket" the fields 
they should feel the scythe or the mowing-machine blades at sight 
of the first gay flower. For destruction of the perennial roots 
the ground requires to be put under cultivation. 



FETID MARIGOLD 

Dyssbdia papposa, Hitchc. 
{Boehera papposa, Rydb.) 

Other English names: Yellow Mayweed, False 
Mayweed, Yellow Dog-fennel, Stinkweed. 

Native. Annual. Propagated by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Ontario and Ohio to Minnesota and Ne- 
braska, southward to Texas, New Mexico, and 
Arizona. 

Habitat : Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

A vile weed, which is gaining ground in the 
Eastern States, being established in several places 
where it was brought in western hay, of which 
the refuse was spread on the fields. 

Stem six to eighteen inches tall, erect, smooth, 
dotted with pellucid glands, much branched, and 
very leafy. Leaves but an inch or two long, 
opposite, sessile, pinnately divided into narrow, 
spatulate, toothed segments, and also dotted 
with glands which exhale an offensive, fetid 
odor. Heads numerous, terminal, on short pe- 
duncles, dull yellow, but little more than a 
quarter-inch broad ; disk fiorets perfect and 
fertile ; rays few and short, pistillate ; involucre 




Fig. 337.— 
Fetid Marigold 
(Dyssodia pap- 
posa). X I. 



486 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



formed of one row of oblong, purplish bracts, united into 
a cup, with a few short, loose, and spreading ones at the base. 
Achenes dark, wedge-shaped, covered with fine, upward-pointing 
bristles ; the pappus is a ring of stiff, bristly hairs. (Fig. 337.) 



Means of control 

Small areas newly infested should be pulled while in earliest 
flower, allowing no seed to develop. Ground on which plants have 
matured should be burned over, in order to destroy the seed on the 
surface. 

YARROW 

Achillea Millejblium, L. 

Other English names: Milfoil, Thousand-leaf, Sanguinary, Blood- 
wort, Soldier's Woundwort, Nosebleed Weed. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstoeks. 
Time of hloojn : June to October. 

Seed-time: August to November, 

Range: Throughout North America, and in 

most parts of the world. 
Habitat: Meadows, pastures, roadsides, and 
waste places. 



^« 




Fig. 338. — Yarrow 
(Achillea Millefolium). 
XI. 



A most hardy weed, thriving in nearly any 
kind of soil and indifferent to tropic heat or 
arctic cold ; well named for the invulnerable 
Achilles, who is said to have used the herb for 
the cure of his Myrmidons wounded at the 
siege of Troy. However that may be, the 
plant is still valued medicinally and its dried 
leaves and flowers bring three to five cents a 
pound in the drug market. 

Stem one to two feet tall, stiffly erect, simple 
or sometimes forked above, webby-haired or 
nearly smooth. Leaves alternate, the lower 
ones sometimes ten inches long, lance-shaped 
in outline, deep green, twice pinnatifid and 
the segments finely toothed ; stem leaves 
less divided, narrow and sessile ; the foliage is 
strong-scented, its taste biting and bitter. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



487 



Cattle usually avoid the plant when green, but sometimes eat it 
with dry fodder, and then it is very damaging to the quality 
of dairy products. Flowers in dense, flat-topped, stiffly branched, 
compound corymbs, the heads very small, white or sometimes 
pink ; rays and disk-florets both fertile ; bracts of the invo- 
lucre, imbricated, with scarious margins. Achenes flattened 
oblong, without pappus. (Fig. 338.) 



Means of control 

The rootstocks are horizontal and tough, and cling rather 
strongly to the parent plant, so that sometimes when the ground 
is soft one may oust a whole colony at a pull — the young shoots 
of the first year being mere tufts of plume-like leaves. Prevent 
seed production by close cutting before the 
first flowers mature. In cultivated crops the 
weed is suppressed by the required tillage. 



SNEEZEWORT YARROW 

Achillea Ptdrmica, L. 

Other English names : White Sneezeweed, White 

Tansy, Wild Pellitory. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds 

and by rootstocks. 
Time of hloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Newfoundland and New Brunswick 

to Michigan, southward to Massachusetts. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; low meadows, and waste 

places. 

The range of this weed has increased of 
recent years, chiefly by the agency of baled 
hay. Stem slender, one to two feet tall, 
rather rigid, smooth or only slightly hairy, 
sometimes branched at the top but usually 
simple. Leaves alternate, one to three inches 
long, narrow lance-shaped to linear, pointed, 
sharply and very finely toothed, sessile and 
partly clasping, often hairy on the veins 




Fig. 339. — Sneeze- 
wort Yarrow {Achillea 
Ptarmica). X \. 



488 



COMPOSITAJB (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



beneath. Flowers in loose corymbose clusters, the heads on 
long, slender pedicels, about a half-inch broad, with six to fifteen 
white rays, notched at the tips ; rays and disk-florets both fertile. 
Achenes compressed oblong, without pappus. 

Means of control the same as for common Yarrow. (Fig. 339.) 



MAYWEED 

Anthemis Cotula, L. 

Other English names: Dog Fennel, Dog Finkle, Dillweed, Fetid 

Chamomile, Stinking Daisy, White Stinkweed. 
Introduced. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to October. 
Seed-time: July to November. 
Range : All over North America except the extreme North. Native 

of Europe, but widely distributed in Asia, Africa, and Australia. 
Habitat : Nearly all soils ; invades almost all crops. 

In fields and along roadsides, and particularly in barnyards, 
where the soil is enriched with the constant droppings of cattle, 
this vile weed thrives ; for no grazing animal will eat it because of 
its rank odor and acrid juices. The modern farmer rides his "self 
binder" through the grain fields and doesn't 
curse the Mayweeds as did the men who had to 
"cradle the wheat" and bind it with hand- 
twisted straw withes, and whose hands, arms, 
and feet became as though scalded from repeated 
contact with the acrid, glandular foliage of this 
weed and from its seedy tops sifting into their 
shoes as they swung the cradle or the scythe. 
"The Mayweed doth burn and the Thistle doth 
fret," wrote Thomas Tusser, sympathizing with 
his harvesters, nearly four hundred years ago; 
and there are localities in this country where the 
words are yet applicable. 

Stem six to twenty inches in height, smooth 
below but glandular and somewhat hairy above, 
much branched, and spreading. Leaves alternate, 
sessile, pinnate, twice or thrice divided into 
linear, acute segments. Heads numerous, soli- 




FiG. 340.- 
M ay weed (A tithe 
mis Cotula). X i 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 489 

tary, terminal, about an inch broad; rays fifteen to twenty, 
neutral, white, three-toothed, spreading, becoming reflexed as 
they wither; disks yellow, hemispheric, growing cone-like with 
age, the florets tubular and perfect ; bracts of the involucre oblong, 
scarious margined, obtuse, usually somewhat hairy. Achenes 
oblong, ten-ribbed, roughened with glandular tubercles, and 
without pappus ; they are nearly always found as an impurity 
in seeds of grass and clover. (Fig. 340.) 

Means of control 

The plant is an annual, and, if it were persistently destroyed 
before any seed had dropped into the soil to vex another year's 
crop, it must needs disappear. It would pay even to hand-pull it, 
but prompt cutting would be sufficient. In grain fields the crop 
may be relieved of much of the crowding growth of the weed by 
harrowing out the seedlings in the spring. 



FIELD OR CORN CHAMOMILE 

Anthemis arvensis, L. 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to August. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Virginia, and westward to Michigan and 

Missouri ; also on the Pacific Coast. 
Habitat: Cultivated fields, meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 

Somewhat like the Mayweed, but without its unpleasant odor 
and acrid juices. It is low, seldom exceeding a foot in height, 
some of its many branches decumbent, others ascending, very 
leafy, and finely hairy. Leaves sessile, one to three inches long, 
pinnate, once or twice divided, much less feathery than the May- 
weed. Heads numerous, usually exceeding an inch in width, with 
ten to twenty white, spreading, two-toothed rays, pistillate and 
fertile; disk-florets perfect; bracts of the involucre are oblong, 
obtuse, hairy, with scarious margins. Achenes oblong, obscurely 
four-angled, crowned only mth a minute border for a pappus. In 
some localities this is a worse weed than its ill-scented relative, 



490 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



and its achenes are a common impurity in those of grass and 
clover. 

The same measures should be used for its control as for Mayweed. 

YELLOW CHAMOMILE 



Anthemis tinctoria, L. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range : Atlantic States from Maine to Maryland ; locally in some 

interior states. 
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 



An escape from gardens, where it was 
formerly cultivated for its beauty and for 
its medicinal qualities, being used as a 
bitter tonic. It is a persistent weed wher- 
ever established, as grazing animals will 
not touch it and it is left to propagate 
itself. 

Stem one to three feet in height, erect, 
slender, finely hairy, with a few branches 
held nearly upright. Leaves also finely 
hairy, alternate, one to four inches long, 
pinnate, the oblong segments narrow, 
pointed, and sharply toothed. Heads 
terminal, rather few, more than an inch 
broad, on long, slender peduncles. Both 
disk-florets and rays are yellow, the latter 
numbering twenty to thirty, usually two- 
toothed, pistillate, and fertile ; disk-florets 
perfect and of a darker yellow ; bracts of 
the involucre oblong, obtuse, densely hairy 
with scarious margins. Achenes four- 
angled and somewhat flattened, crowned 
with a narrow border. They are becoming 
much too common as an impurity of grass 
and clover seeds. (Fig. 341.) 




Fig. 341. — Yellow 
Chamomile {Anthemis 
tinctoria). X J. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



491 



Means of control 

Frequent cutting close to the ground, throughout the growing 
season, will prevent seeding and will starve the perennial roots. 
New infestations, if areas are not too large, should be promptly 
hand-pulled as soon as observed. 



SCENTLESS CHAMOMILE 
Matricaria inodbra, L. 

Other English name: Corn Mayweed. 

Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seed. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Newfoundland to New Jersey, 
westward as far as Michigan. 

Habitat : Cultivated fields, meadows, road- 
sides, and waste places. 



Not so disagreeable a plant as the ill- 
scented Dog Fennel, but a gross feeder and 
holding ground which should be occupied 
by better plants. Stem one to two feet in 
height, smooth or nearly so, very much 
branched. Leaves alternate, numerous, 
deep green, sessile, twice or thrice pinnately 
dissected into linear, almost thread-like, 
lobes, the rachis somewhat dilated at base. 
Heads terminal on the many branchlets, 
about an inch broad, on naked peduncles ; 
rays twenty to thirty, white, spreading, 
pistillate, and fertile ; disk-florets yellow, 
tubular, perfect, and fertile, their corollas 
five-toothed ; bracts of the involucre green, 
with brown, scarious margins, obtuse, and 
spreading. Achenes strongly three-ribbed, 
tipped with a short, entire-edged or four- 
toothed crown. 

Means of control the same as for May- 
weed. (Fig. 342.) 




Fig. 342. — Scentless 
Chamomile (Matricaria 
inodora). X \. 



492 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

WILD CHAMOMILE 

Matricaria Chamomilla, L. 

Other English names: Horse Gowan, German Chamomile. 

Introduced. Annual or winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: Atlantic States, westward to Ohio. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

Very like the preceding species, but with rather pleasantly 
aromatic foliage. Stem smooth, much branched, one to two feet 
high. Leaves pinnate, twice or thrice divided into many linear 
lobes. Heads numerous, terminal, about three-fourths of an inch 
broad, on very slender, naked peduncles ; rays ten to twenty, 
white, drooping as they mature, pistillate, fertile ; disk-florets 
perfect and fertile, yellow, the receptacle at first rather flat but 
becoming conic and hollow ; bracts of the involucre oblong, obtuse, 
green, with brown, scarious margins. Achenes short, three-ribbed, 
and without pappus. 

Means of control the same as for Mayweed. 

PINEAPPLE WEED 

Matricaria suaveolens, Buchenau. 
(Matricaria matricarioides, Porter.) 

Other English name: Rayless Chamomile. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : May to August. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range: Atlantic States from New Brunswick to Pennsylvania, 
naturalized from the Pacific Slope where it is native, and com- 
mon as far east as Wyoming and Montana. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

This plant not only has found its wa}^ East, but has gone abroad 
and is naturalized as a weed in northern Europe. Stem rather 
stout, six to eighteen inches tall, smooth, branching, and very 
leafy. Leaves pinnate, twice or thrice dissected into short, very 
narrow, and sharply pointed lobes ; when bruised they have an 
odor suggestive of pineapples. Heads very numerous on short 



GOMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 493 

peduncles, without rays, the disk bluntly ovoid, greenish yellow; 
bracts of the involucre broadly oval, not quite half the length of 
the disk, green, with white, scarious margins. Achenes rounded 
oblong, faintly ribbed, often without a pappus but sometimes 
having an obscure marginal crown, bearing one or two small, 
oblique auricles. 

Means of control the same as for Mayweed. 



WHITE OR OX-EYE DAISY 

Chrysanthemum Leucdnthemum, L. 
Var. pinnatifidum, Leeoq. & Lamotte. 

Other English names: Whiteweed, Midsummer Daisy, Poverty 

Weed, Poorland Flower, Moon-penny. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to October. 
Seed-time: June to November. 
Range: Nearly throughout North America. Less common in the 

South and the West. 
Habitat: Old fields, meadows, pastures, and waste places. 

The seeds of this plant are an impurity of nearly all grass seeds 
and are distributed with them; fruiting plants are mown with 
the hay, baled with it, and shipped about the country, pass un- 
harmed through the digestive tracts of the farm animals and are 
returned to the land in uncomposted stable refuse, carefully spread 
— no wonder it is such a pervasive weed. 

Stems often tufted, one to three feet high, erect, slender, finely 
grooved, nearly smooth, sometimes forking near the top but usually 
simple, springing from a short, thick rootstock fringed with fibrous 
rootlets. Root-leaves in a tufted mat about the base of the stem, 
spatulate in outline, pinnatifid and irregularly toothed, tapering 
to petioles ; stem-leaves narrowly oblong, sessile and clasping, 
also cut and toothed. Heads single at the summit of the stalk, 
about two inches broad, bearing twenty to thirty spreading, white 
rays, slightly notched at their tips ; disk yellow and about a half- 
inch broad ; rays and disk-florets both fertile ; involucre very 
shallow and flat, its bracts with scarious margins and closely im- 
bricated. Achenes grayish black, finely ribbed, without pappus. 



494 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




Fig. 343. — White or 
Ox-eye Daisy (Chrysan- 
themum Leucanthem,um, 
var. pinnatifidu7n) . X i. 



These will ripen sufficiently to germinate 
in ten days after the opening of the flowers. 
(Fig. 343.) 

Means of co7itrol 

Sow clean seed. Cleanse the Daisy-cursed 
meadow with a short rotation of other 
crops. Though perennial, the roots are 
shallow and are turned out and killed by the 
plow. Mow infested meadows as soon as 
the first flowers appear, in order that the 
seeds may not have time to ripen. Fre- 
quently cut and salt the plants of the 
pasture, which will induce the stock to 
feed on the leaf-tufts and aid in their de- 
struction. Roadside and waste-land plants 
should be cut before seed development, or 
should even be hoed out, for the benefit of 
adjacent ground. 



COSTMARY 

Chrysdnthe7?ium Balsd7nita, L. 
Var. tanacetoides, Boiss. 



Other English names : Alecost, Balsam Herb, 
Mint Geranium. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : June to September. 
Seed-ti7ne: July to October. 
Range: Nova Scotia and New England, westward to Ontario and 

Ohio. 
Habitat: Roadsides, farmyards, waste places. 



An escape from gardens ; in some localities it is mistakenly 
called Lavender, but that is a very different plant. The fragrant 
leaves were formerly used for flavoring home-brewed ale or beer, 
but in these days they are occasionally eaten by milch cows and 
spoil the flavor of milk and butter. 

Stems one to three feet tall, much branched, finely hairy. Leaves 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



495 



alternate, oblong, obtuse, scallop-toothed, one or two inches in 
length, many with a pair of small lateral lobes near the base but 
others without, those of the stem sessile except the lowermost. 
Heads numerous in open corymbose clusters, some with rays but 
oftener without ; rays, when present, are white, short, and spread- 
ing ; all the florets are fertile ; bracts of the involucre narrow, 
obtuse, somewhat hairy. Achenes slightly angled with a short 
cup-like crown for pappus. 

Means of control the same as for Tansy. 

TANSY 

Tanacetum vulgare, L. 

Other English names: Bitter Buttons, Ginger Plant, Parsley Fern. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Nova Scotia and Ontario to Minnesota, southward to 

Georgia and Missouri. 
Habitat: Roadsides, farmyards, and waste places. 



An escape from garden cultivation. The oil 
distilled from the plant, mixed with that of 
Fleabane and Pennyroyal and diluted with 
alcohol, make a "mosquito dope" useful to 
hunters and fishermen and others who must 
work where mosquitoes are troublesome. Col- 
lectors receive three to five cents a pound for 
the dried leaves and tops, gathered when in 
full bloom. (Fig. 344.) 

Stem one to three feet high, rather stout, 
smooth, usually unbranched, except at the 
fiowering top. Leaves alternate, the lower 
ones sometimes a foot long, deep green, smooth, 
pinnatifid, the segments narrow, acute, and 
toothed, the petioles often with toothed mar- 
gins ; upper leaves smaller and less divided. 
Heads numerous in terminal corymbose clus- 
ters, less than a half-inch broad, yellow, the 




Fig. 344. 
{Tanacetum 



— Tansy 
vulgare). 



496 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



florets usually all tubular or sometimes with an outer row of 
imperfectly developed rays ; these are pistillate, the central florets 
perfect, all fertile. Achenes angled or ribbed, with a five-toothed 
crown for pappus. 

Means of control 

Small areas may be grubbed out, or killed with Caustic soda or 
hot brine. Or the roots may be starved by successive close cut- 
ting throughout the growing season. 




Fig. 345. — Com- 
mon Mugwort {Arte- 
misia vulgaris). X i- 



COMMON MUGWORT 

Artemisia vulgaris, L. 

Other English names: Felon-herb, Sailor's 

Tobacco. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to October. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range : Nova Scotia to Ontario and Michigan, 

southward to New Jersey and Tennessee. 
Habitat : Roadsides and waste places ; along 

streams and ditches. 

Also called Wormwood, and kept on sale 
under that name in drug stores. Stem one 
to three feet tall, smooth or nearly so except 
the growing branches, which are finely white- 
woolly. Leaves alternate, one to four inches 
long, deeply pinnatifid into narrow oblong or 
spatulate segments, which are again cut and 
toothed, the lower ones usually petioled, the 
upper ones sessile, often with lobes entire; 
all are smooth and dark green above but 
covered with fine, white wool beneath. The 
numerous heads are in spiked panicles, held 
nearly erect ; each head is about one-sixth 
of an inch broad and only the central florets 
are fertile; bracts of the involucre dry and 
scarious. Achenes very small, obovoid, with- 
out pappus. (Fig. 345.) 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 497 

Means of control 

Mugwort has to be grubbed out ; or, if the ground is sufficiently 
soft to relax its hold on the perennial roots, the plants may be 
hand-pulled. On cultivated ground the weed is destroyed by the 
required tillage. 

BIENNIAL WORMWOOD 

Artemisia biennis, L. 

Other English names: False Tansy, Bitterweed. 

Native and introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seed. 

Tiine of bloom: August to October. 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territory, southward to 

Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Missouri. 
Habitat: Stubble fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

Probably the most common of the Wormwoods ; frequently a 
tenant of vacant city lots. Stem one to four feet tall, erect and 
strict, the branches rather short and held nearly upright. Leaves 
smooth on both sides, dark green, twice pinnatifid, with oblong to 
linear, toothed, and pointed segments, the lower with petioles, the 
upper sessile and with fewer lobes or occasionally quite entire; 
they are without odor unless bruised. Heads in short, crow^ded, 
axillary clusters, erect, sessile, about an eighth of an inch broad, 
the involucral bracts green with scarious margins, the central 
flowers only producing seed. 

Means of control 

Hoe-cutting or hand-pulling of autumn plants ; close cutting of 
flowering stalks before seed development. Infested stubbles should 
be given surface cultivation or be mowed before the heads mature. 

ANNUAL WORMWOOD 

Artemisia annua, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August lo October. 
Range: Ontario to Tennessee and Kansas. 
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, waste places. 
2k 



498 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




Fig. 346. — Annual 
Wormwood {Artemisia 
annua). X \. 



Nearly as rapid a grower as a ragweed, 
the stem two to five feet tall, smooth, much 
branched, and leafy. Leaves alternate, 
two to six inches long, smooth and green on 
both sides, very sweet-scented, twice or thrice 
pinnatifid, the lobes short, obtuse, and 
narrow ; lower leaves with short, slender 
petioles, upper ones sessile and much smaller, 
but none entire. Heads very small in loose, 
open panicles, the florets all fertile ; invo- 
lucre hemispheric, the bracts few, smooth, 
dry and scarious. (Fig. 346.) 

Means of control 

For small areas hand-pulling before the 
flowers mature. Or close and repeated 
cutting for the purpose of preventing re- 
production. 

WORMWOOD OR ABSINTHE 

Artemisia Absinthium, L. 

Biennial. Propagates by 



Introduced. 

seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to October. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: Newfoundland and New England to western Ontario and 

Ohio. 
Habitat: Roadsides and waste places. 



An escape from gardens, and usually a waste-land weed ; but 
occasionally it gets into hay, causing cattle to reject their fodder 
— or, if eaten, the consequence is ruined milk and butter, for the 
extreme bitterness of the plant is proverbial. The herb is used 
medicinally as a vermifuge, and collectors receive about four cents 
a pound for its leaves and flowering tops, gathered when in early 
bloom and dried. 

Stem somewhat shrubby, two to four feet high, the new leaves 
white with fine, silky hair, the older foliage grayish green, soft, 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 499 

and thin; the leaves are thrice pinnatifid, the segments finely 
divided and again cut and lobed ; lower ones with slender petioles, 
but upper ones sessile or nearly so. Flowers in loose compound 
racemes, often more than a foot in length, the branchlets exceed- 
ingly slender and closely strung with nearly globular, nodding 
heads less than a sixth of an inch in diameter. These small, 
dried heads are called "seed," though of course they contain a 
number of very small achenes. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by frequent close cutting during the 
growing season ; if this is done, unless the ground is foul with 
dormant seed, the weed will disappear. 



PASTURE SAGE 

Artemisia frigida, Willd. 

Other English names : Low Sage-bush, Wormwood Sage, Wild Sage. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom: July to October. 

Seed-time: September to December. 

Range: Minnesota to the Saskatchewan and Idaho, southward to 

Texas and New Mexico. 
Habitat : Grasslands. 

Closely grazed pastures are sometimes badly overgrown with 
this w^eed, for cattle will not eat the bitter foliage and the plant is 
left to reproduce itself. 

Stems tufted, ten to twenty inches tall, smooth, woody at the 
base, the younger parts silky white with soft hair. Leaves also 
densely silken-hairy, grayish green, a half-inch to nearly two 
inches long, three- to five-parted, the segments very narrowly 
linear ; lower leaves have slim petioles, often with a pair of entire 
or three-cleft divisions near the base ; upper ones have fewer seg- 
ments and are sessile. Heads very numerous in narrow terminal 
panicles ; nearly hemispheric, about an eighth of an inch broad, 
nodding on short pedicels ; involucral scales rounded oblong, silky- 
hairy. Only the central florets of the heads are fertile. 



500 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



Means of control 

Only by breaking up the sod, and putting the ground under 
thorough cultivation for a year or two, can it be cleansed of the 
perennial roots and the dormant seeds of this obnoxious weed. 
Waste-land plants, the wind-blown seeds of which may infest the 
country side, should receive the attention of the whole community. 



Fig. 
3 4 7.— 
Common 
Sage -bush 
{Artemisia 
tridentata) . 



COMMON SAGE-BUSH 

Artemisia tridentata, Nutt. 

Other English names : Sage-wood, Sage-brush, Mountain 

Sage. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: Nebraska to Colorado, Utah, and California, 

northward to Montana and British Columbia. 
Habitat: Dry plains and foothills. 

Drought does not seem to affect this plant, and 
when settled among less sturdy growths it robs them of 
most of the food and moisture available. 

Stems shrubby and branching, one to ten feet tall, 
covered with silvery gray hair. Leaves a half-inch to 
but little more than an inch long, narrow, wedge- 
shaped, sessile, with three to five blunt teeth at the 
tip, which is the broadest part. Flowers sessile on 
crowded spikes in the axils and at the ends of the 
branches, the terminal spikes often dividing into large 
panicles. Heads only about an eighth of an inch in 
diameter, the florets all perfect and fertile. When ripe 
the heads fall entire from the spikes and are blown 
far and wide, particularly in winter over crusted snows, 
infesting many a home pasture and meadow with their 
perennial roots and uneatable, bitter foliage, necessitat- 
ing the breaking-up and cultivation of the ground in 
order to rid it of their presence. It should interest an 
entire community to see that waste-land plants are 
destroyed or at least prevented from developing seed. 
(Fig. 347.) 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



501 



COLTSFOOT 

Tussildgo Fdrfara, L. 

Other English names: Coughwort, Ginger Root, Clayweed, Dove- 
dock, Horsehoof, Foalfoot. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom: Early April to June. 

Seed-time: May to July. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Minnesota, southward to Pennsylvania and 
Ohio. 

Habitat: Moist clay soil; thin pastures, alluvial banks, along 
brooks and roadsides. 



Scapes slender, springing from thick succulent rootstocks and 
appearing before the leaves, at first but a few inches high, bearing 
reddish scales that are slightly white- 
woolly, and holding erect a single flower- 
head about an inch broad, golden yellow ; 
the flowers have the odor of honey and 
the pollen furnishes bees with early prov- 
ender. Ray-florets in several rows, 
pistillate and fertile ; disk-florets perfect 
but sterile, the corolla tubular and five- 
cleft ; after a head has been fertilized the 
stalk rapidly elongates to a foot or more 
in height, and the head is so bowed that 
it is protected from rain by the bell- 
shaped involucre until the achenes have 
formed, when it is again erected and 
opens out a ball of downy pappus, whiter 
and more floss-like than that of the dan- 
delion. Near the end of the flowering 
season the leaves appear, rising from the 
rootstocks, nearly round, heart-shaped at 
base, slightly lobed and toothed, thick, 
smooth, and dark green above but white- 
woolly underneath, with petioles about as long as the blades ; 
they continue to grow all summer, becoming often six or eight 
inches broad. (Fig. 348.) 




Fig. 348. — Coltsfoot 
(Ticssilago Farfara). X \. 



502 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by cutting the scapes while in bloom. 
The weed grows only on clay soil and likes it moist ; drainage, lim- 
ing, manuring, and enriching the ground enables better plants to 
crowd it out. The horizontal rootstocks grow so near the surface 
that cultivation turns them out, when they may be readily raked 
away and removed. 

SWEET COLTSFOOT 

Petasites palmdtus, Gray 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 

Time of bloom : April to June. 

Seed-time: May to July. 

Range : Newfoundland to British Columbia and Alaska, southward 

to Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, and Minnesota. 
Habitat: Recently cleared ground, wet meadows, and swamps. 

Scapes stout, appearing before the leaves, very scaly, and vary- 
ing in height from about six inches when in first bloom to nearly 
two feet when mature. Heads in corymbose terminal clusters, 
each less than a half-inch broad, pale yellow or cream-color, and 
fragrant ; they are partly dioecious, the fertile plants having heads 
almost wholly pistillate, with one or more outer rows of ray 
florets ; the perfect but sterile flowers have tubular five-cleft 
corollas with undivided styles. Leaves finally very large, often 
more than a foot broad, rounded, palmately and very deeply lobed, 
with five to seven segments also cut and toothed, glossy and deep 
green above but densely white-woolly below especially when young. 
Rootstocks very large and thick. 

Like Tussilago, this weed is driven out by drainage and culti- 
vation. 

BUTTERFLY DOCK 

Petasites vulgaris, Hill 

Other English names: Butter Dock, Flea Dock, Poison Rhubarb, 

Oxwort, Pestilence Wort, Umbrella Leaves. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : April to May. 
Seed-time: Late May to June. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



503 



Range: Eastern Massachusetts to east- 
ern Pennsylvania. 

Habitat : Moist soil ; cultivated ground, 
waste places. 

In England, whence this plant came, 
it is a pest of wet meadows and is said 
to be poisonous ; it is to be hoped that 
its present restricted range in this 
country may not enlarge. Scapes stout, 
very scaly, six to eighteen inches tall. 
Heads in crowded, racemose clusters, 
each about a half-inch broad, on very 
short pedicels, pinkish purple, fragrant, 
the florets all tubular ; they are dioecious, 
the staminate heads being smaller than 
the fertile ones. Leaves appearing late, 
often more than a foot broad when ma- 
ture, rounded heart-shaped, thick, green 
and smooth above, white-woolly be- 
neath, irregularly but sharply toothed, 
with stout petioles. (Fig. 349.) 

Means of control the same as for Tussilago. 




Fig. 349. — Butterfly 
{Petasites vulgaris) . 



Dock 



FIREWEED, OR PILEWORT 

ErechtUes hieracifolia, Raf. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hlooin : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Newfoundland to the Northwest Territory, southward to 

Florida, Louisiana, and Mexico. 
Habitat: Woodland borders and recently cleared land, especially 

if burned over. 



Coarse plants, with a rank odor and juices most nauseous to 
the taste. It is a medicinal herb for which collectors receive two 
or three cents a pound, the whole plant being pulled and dried 
just before bloom, in which process the leaves turn black. 

Stem two to eight feet tall, erect, smooth or only slightly hairy, 
succulent, grooved, usually with ascending branches. Leaves 



504 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




Fig. 350. — Fireweed (Erechtites 



hieracifolia) . 



Xh 



lance-shaped, thin, irregularly cut and 
toothed, the lower ones narrowing 
to margined petioles, the upper ones 
sessile, clasping, often auricled at 
base. Flowers in open terminal 
panicles, the heads greenish white, 
the flowers all tubular and fertile, 
hardly exceeding the nearly cylindric, 
smooth involucre, which is slightly 
swollen at the base. Achenes oblong, 
with very glistening, fine, white 
pappus. (Fig. 350.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by pull- 
ing or close cutting before the first 
flowers mature. 



COMMON GROUNDSEL 

Senecio vulgaris, L. 



Other English names: Grinsel, Simson, Birdseed, Chicken Weed. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : April to October. 
Seed-time: May to November. 

Range : Newfoundland and Hudson Bay to North Carolina, Michi- 
gan, and South Dakota. Also on the Pacific Coast. 
Habitat: Gardens and cultivated fields, waste places. 



In Europe, whence this plant came to us, it is often sown to 
furnish green food for cage birds and for poultry. In this country 
it is frequently a great vexation to the truck gardener, for in fertile 
soil it sometimes appears in such quantities as to smother all other 
seedlings. 

Stem six to fifteen inches high, succulent, hollow, slightly angled, 
much branched, and leafy to the top. Leaves oblong, pinnatifid, 
the segments also oblong and toothed ; the lower ones taper back- 
ward to a petiole, but those of the stem are clasping and some- 



C MP SITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



505 



what auricled. Flower-heads yellow, without rays, about a 
quarter-inch broad, the bracts of the involucre linear, with a few 
awl-shaped outer ones which are black-tipped. Achenes oblong, 
finely ribbed, minutely hairy, with a very copious, fine, white 
pappus, by help of which they are widely wind-sown. 

Mea7is of co7itrol 

Frequent hoe-cutting while the plants are too young to develop 
seed. A spray of four-per-cent Copper-sulfate solution will blast 
buds and temporarily check seed development, but will not harm 
the smooth foliage, so that the plant recovers and the operation 
requires to be repeated. 



BUTTERWEED 

Senecio glabellus, Poir. 
(Senecio lohatus, Pers.) 

Other English name: Cress-leaved Groundsel. 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seed. 

Time of bloom: March to June. 

Seed-time: May to July. 

Range: North Carolina to southern Illinois 

and Missouri, southward to Florida, Texas, 

and New Mexico. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, and waste places. 

A rather stout, coarse plant, with furrowed, 
hollow, and succulent stem, one to three feet 
tall, sparingly branched. Leaves alternate, 
three to ten inches long, smooth, fleshy, and 
tender, and most variable in shape ; they are 
pinnately divided, the segments rounded or 
oblong or spoon-shaped or pointed, with wavy- 
toothed edges or entire, but usually with ter- 
minal segment larger than the others ; the 
basal and lower leaves have slender petioles, 
but those above are sessile. Flowers in open 
corymbose clusters, the heads about three- 
fourths of an inch broad, bright yellow, with 
six to twelve broad, wedge-shaped rays. 




Fig. 351. — But- 
terweed (Senecio gla- 
bellus). X^. 



506 COMPOSITAE ^COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Aclienes minutely liairy on the ridges with a long-, silky, white 
pappus, by whieh the wind is able to distribute them very 
widely. (Fig. 351.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed produetion by every means possible. Sheep graz- 
ing ; frequent and persistent hoe-cutting while young ; cultivation 
of the ground ; even hand-pulling for small areas. Being annual, 
the weed must succumb if not permitted to reproduce itself. 



STINKING WILLIE 
Senecio Jacohaca, L. 

Other English names: Common Ragwort, Tansy Ragwort, Stagger- 
wort, St. Jameswort, Cankerweed, Baughlan. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstoeks. 

Time of bloom: June to November. 

Seed-time: July to December. 

Range: Newfoundland, Pi'inee Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and 
Quebec ; locally in Ontario, INIaine, southern New York, and New 
Jersey. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, pastiu-es, roadsides, and waste places. 

The range of this coarse and dangerous weed is not at present 
very extensive, and every effort should be made to prevent its 
further dissemination. When eaten by cattle it causes a fatal 
disease of the liver (Hepatic cirrhosis), locally known as Pictou 
Disease, which for many years was supposed to be contagious be- 
cause of the fact that whole herds were often affected at the same 
time. But long investigation and a series of careful experiments 
made under the direction of the Veterinary Director General of the 
Dominion of Canada have proved that this weed is the cause of 
the trouble. The ]\Iolteno Cattle Disease of South Africa is simi- 
lar and is due to the same cause. When green, the whole plant 
emits a most disagreeable, fetid odor, and is disliked by grazing 
animals ; but when dried in hay it is freely eaten by all kinds of 
stock and is then a serious danger. Plants that are har\'ested and 
cured just before coming into bloom are said to be at their most 
noxious stage. (Fig. 352.) 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



507 



The weed springs from rather shallow and fibrous roots, from 
which a few short, thick rootstocks are extended. Stern two to 
three feet tall, erect, stiff, grooved, very leafy, and branching at 
the top. Leaves dark green, deeply twice pinnatifid, the terminal 
segment largest, particularly of the lower 
leaves, which are six to eight inches long 
and petioled; stem-leaves more slender, 
smaller, and sessile. Flowers in large, 
many-headed, branching, flat-topped clus- 
ters, very showy and handsome. Heads 
golden yellow, nearly an inch broad, with 
twelve to fifteen wedge-shaped rays, toothed 
at their tips. Both rays and disk-florets 
are fertile. Achenes light yellow, grooved, 
oblong, those of the disk-florets bristly 
and straight, those of the rays smooth and 
curved. Pappus very copious, white, anrl 
silky. 



Means of control 

All plants in infested meadows should be 
pulled or grubbed out while in their earliest 
bloom, before the hay is harvested. Plants 
in pastures, in waste places, and on road- 
sides should be closely cut, piled, and 
burned before any seed has matured to be 
sown by the wind about the countryside, 
cultivated crops would cleanse infested 
perennial roots and its dormant seeds. 




Fig. 352. — Stinking 
Willie {Senecio Jacobcea). 

A short rotation of 
ground of both its 



GOLDEN RAGWORT 



Senecio aureus, L. 

Other English names: Squaw Weed, Life Root, False Valerian, 

Grundy Swallow. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom: May to Julj'. 
Seed-time: June to August. 



508 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Range: Newfoundland to Florida, westward to Ontario, Missouri, 

and Texas, 
Habitat : Moist fields and meadows, banks of streams, and swamps. 

The slender, creeping rootstocks of this plant are strong-scented, 
whence its name of False Valerian. It is said to be unwholesome 
for cattle and horses, but not so much so as Senecio Jacobaea; 
sheep feed on it, however, without any apparent harm. 

Stems two or three from the same root, very slender, grooved, 
marked with twisting brown streaks, one to three feet tall. When 
young the whole plant is webby-haired but soon becomes smooth. 
Root leaves appear in early April and look somewhat like those of 
the violet ; heart-shaped, rather thick in texture, scallop-toothed, 
dark green above, purplish red beneath, with long, slim petioles. 
Stem leaves very different ; the lower ones oblong, pinnatifid, with 
terminal segments large, and with short, margined petioles ; those 
near the top more slender, sessile, and clasping. Flowers in open, 
flat clusters, the heads nearly an inch broad, with eight to twelve 
deep golden rays and brownish orange disks, both kinds of florets 
fertile. Achenes ribbed and smooth, with very copious, silky, 
white pappus, by wdiich they are borne far on the winds. 

Means of control 

Prevent spreading by seed production by cutting while in first 
bloom. In small areas, rootstocks may be hand-pulled or grubbed 
out ; but drainage and cultivation of the ground are necessary in 
order to cleanse rankly infested fields and meadows of this weed. 



GREAT BURDOCK 

Arctium Lappa, L. 

Other English names: Beggar's Buttons, Cockle Button, Hardock, 
Hurr-bur. 

Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to October. 

Seed-time: The earlier flowers mature in September, but fruits re- 
main on the stalks all winter if not disseminated nor destroyed. 

Range: Eastern Canada and New England, southward to Pennsyl- 
vania and Ohio : locally in Middle Western States. 

Habitat: Fence rows, roadsides, and waste places. 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



609 



The presence of one of these huge weeds in flower and fruit 
should be considered a disgrace to the owner of the soil so occupied, 
for it must have remained in undisturbed possession of the ground 
for the necessary second year of growth before reproduction. 

The root is enormous ; often three inches thick, driving straight 
downward for a foot or more and then branching in all directions, 
taking strong hold on the soil and grossly robbing it. Stem four 
to nine feet in height, stout, 
ridged, rough-hairy, with spread- 
ing branches. Leaves broadly 
oval, the lower ones often more 
than a foot in length and nearly 
as wide, rather thin but strongly 
ribbed and veined, with wavy or 
slightly ruffled edges which save 
them from being torn by the 
wind, light green, woolly and 
felt-like beneath but darker and 
smooth above, with deeply fur- 
rowed, solid petioles dilated at 
base to clasp the stem. Heads in 
crowded axillary clusters, each 
sometimes more than an inch 
broad, often on rather long ' pe- 
duncles ; florets all tubular and 
perfect; corollas pink, five-lobed, 
the ring of anthers purple, stig- 
mas and pollen white; bracts of 
the involucre in many series, rigid, hooked inwardly at the tip, 
spreading at differing angles, making the heads nearly globular. 
Achenes oblong, three-angled, mottled gray and brown, crowned 
with a short, bristly pappus. Widely distributed in the burs by 
animals, and on garments of passers-by. (Fig. 353.) 

Burdock roots and seeds are used in medicine and the destruc- 
tion of the weeds may sometimes be made profitable ; roots should 
be collected in autumn of the first year of growth, cleaned, sliced 
lengthwise, and carefully dried ; the price is three to eight cents a 
pound ; ripe seeds bring five to ten cents a pound. 




Fig. 353. — Great Burdock (Arc- 
tium Lappa). X i. 



510 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Means of control 

Destroy the seedlings by hoe-cutting; some will escape and 
spread sprawling rosettes, which must be deeply cut with spud or 
hoe ; if merely shaved at the top, the food-filled root will imme- 
diately crown itself anew, but deep cutting kills. If any are left 
until the second year, cut the flowering stalks close to the ground 
before any of the heads are mature. 

COMMON BURDOCK 

Arctium minus, Bernh. 

Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : July to November. 

Seed-time: September; the later ripened burs persistent on the 

stalks all winter. 
Range: Throughout North America. 
Habitat: Fence rows, roadsides, waste places. 

Smaller than the preceding species, the stems being three to 
five feet in height, erect, grooved, and branching. Leaves broadly 
ovate, obtuse, usually heart-shaped at base, light green and woolly- 
hairy beneath, darker and smooth above, the stout petioles hollow, 
and not grooved as are those of Great Burdock. Heads numerous, 
racemose on the branches, sessile or on short peduncles, about a 
half -inch broad ; bracts of the involucre short, smooth or slightly 
woolly, the hooked tips, like those of Great Burdock, turned in- 
ward, the outer rows somewhat spreading, the inner ones erect 
and shorter than the flowers. Achenes show almost none of the 
gray and brown mottling characteristic of those of the larger 
weed. Cows are fond of the plant, but if it is eaten by them in 
any quantity, the milk takes a bitter flavor. 

Means of control the same as for Great Burdock. 

COMMON OR BULL THISTLE 

Circium lanceoldtum, Hill 
{Cdrduus lanceoldtus, L.) 

Other English names: Spear Thistle, Plume Thistle, Bur Thistle, 

Lance-leaved Thistle. 
Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



511 



Time of bloom: July to October. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range: Newfoundland to Minnesota and Nebraska, southward to 

Georgia and Missouri. 
Habitat : Pastures, fence rows, roadsides, and waste places. 



In order to mature fruit these plants must remain undisturbed 
until the second year of growth ; the first season produces only a 
deep taproot crowned by a large, 
tufted, spreading rosette of leaves, 
three to six or more inches long, 
lance-shaped, deeply pinnatifid, the 
lobes tipped with spines, the upper 
surface deep green and rough-hairy 
but the under side clothed with 
brownish, webby wool which disap- 
pears as the plants grow older. 
Stems two to four feet high, stout, 
branching, leafy to the heads. Leaves 
decurrent on the stem, the wings 
extending to the axil of the leaf 
below, the edges very prickly. 
Heads large, about two inches 
high and nearly as broad, mostly 
solitary at the ends of stem and 
branches, the bracts of the invo- 
lucre lance-shaped, long-pointed, all 
tipped with needle-like spines ; flo- 
rets all tubular, five-lobed, deep 
purple, fragrant. Achenes light- 
colored, oblong, slightly flattened and 
curved, with long, plumose, white pappus. (Fig. 354.) Gold- 
finches are very fond of these seeds and usually build their nests 
of Thistle-down, a habit which has gained for them the name of 
"Thistle-birds." 




Fig. 354. — Common or Bull 
Thistle (Circium lanceolatum) . 



Means of control 

Deep spudding or hoe-cutting of first-year rosettes ; fiowering 
stalks should be cut below the crown, before the first flowers mature ; 



512 COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

if cut above the surface of the ground, they will stool and require 
attention a second time. Cultivation of the ground at once de- 
stroys these plants. 

TALL THISTLE 

Circium altissimum, Spreng. 
{Cdrduus altissimus, L.) 

Other English names: Roadside Thistle, Horse Thistle. 

Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloorn : Late July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Massachusetts to Minnesota and Nebraska, southward to 

Florida and Texas. 
Habitat: Roadsides, borders of fields, waste places. 

Root thickened, deep-boring, and winter rosettes very large. 
Stem three to ten feet in height, branching, downy-hairy. Leaves 
oblong lance-shaped, the lowermost sometimes pinnatifid into 
triangular lobes, with short, margined petioles, but those above 
wavy-edged and prickly-toothed, sessile or somewhat clasping but 
not decurrent, dark green and rough-hairy above, white-woolly 
beneath. Heads solitary, terminal, about two inches broad, 
light purple, the outer bracts of the involucre with a dark, glandu- 
lar spot on the back and tipped with spreading spines ; the inner 
scales without prickles. Achenes dark brown, numerous, with 
copious, white, plumose pappus. 

Means of control the same as for the Spear Thistle. 



PASTURE, OR FRAGRANT, THISTLE 

Circium pumilum, Spreng. 
(Cdrduus odordtus, Porter) 

Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range : Maine to Pennsylvania and Delaware. 
Habitat: Pastures, and borders of fields. 

Root round, thick, solid, often branching, the autumn tufts of 
leaves large and spreading. Stem one to three feet tall, stout, 
hairy, with few branches, very leafy. Leaves oblong lance-shaped. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



513 



sessile or partly clasping, 
softly hairy, green on both 
sides, pinnatifid, the lobes 
short, triangular, very 
prickly-toothed. Heads 
purple, pale lilac, or some- 
times nearly white, very 
large, often three inches 
broad, very sweet-scented ; 
bumblebees are nearly al- 
ways probing them for 
nectar, and in the writer's 
childhood it was a custom 
of country children to strip 
away the bracts, pull the 
florets from the receptacle, 
and eat the sugary nectaries 
like taffy; the heads are 
solitary, terminal, usually 
subtended by involucrate 
clusters of small leaves, the 
outer bracts of the invo- 
lucre sometimes slightly 
glutinous on the back, 
prickly-tipped, the 
(Fig. 355.) 
Means of control the same as for the Common Thistle 




Fig. 355. — Pasture or Fragrant Thistle 
{Circium pumilum). X j. 



inner ones unarmed and very slender. 



YELLOW-SPINED THISTLE 

Circium ochrocentum, Gray 
(Cdrduus ochrocentrus, Greene) 



Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to September. 
Seed-time: July to October. 

Range : Nebraska to Nevada, Arizona, and Texas. 
Habitat: Plains and prairies. 
2l 



514 COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Stem two to six feet tall, stout, densely white-woolly, leafy to 
the top. Leaves oblong lance-shaped in outline but deeply pin- 
natifid into triangular or lance-shaped segments, armed with long, 
stiff, yellow spines, white-woolly on the under side, sessile or 
slightly clasping, the lowest with short, margined petioles. Heads 
solitary, terminal, about two inches broad, the outer bracts of the 
involucre lance-shaped and tipped with stout, yellow spines about 
as long as themselves, the inner ones long-pointed but unarmed; 
flowers light purple. 

Another Thistle of the plains, much resembling this one in its 
dense white-woolliness but smaller and less fiercely armed, is the 
Wavy-leaved Thistle {Circium undulatum, Spreng), which has 
a wider range, extending to the Northwest Territory. 

Means of control the same as for C. lanceolatum. 



CANADA THISTLE 

Circiu7n arvense, Scop. 
(Cdrduus arvensis, Robs.) 

Other English names: Creeping Thistle, Small-flowered Thistle, 

Perennial Thistle, Cursed Thistle. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range: Newfoundland to the northwest provinces and British 

Columbia, southward to Virginia and Kansas. 
Habitat: Cultivated fields, meadows, pastures, roadsides, and 

waste places. 

In 1896 the United States Department of Agriculture published 
a bulletin, "Legislation against Weeds," compiling the acts then 
on the statute-books of the several states and recommending a 
general state weed law, sufficiently elastic to fit the varying flora, 
soils, and climate. Therein it is showm that all but three of the 
states having laws for the suppression of weeds make it an offense 
for their citizens to permit the Canada Thistle to mature and 
scatter its seeds. Penalties are also provided in the case of seeds- 
men who sell grain, grass, or clover seeds contaminated by its 
presence — but the thistle marches on, bidding defiance in every 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



515 



prickle to such attempts at its extermination. The laws are very 
good but enforcement is neglected. (Fig. 356.) 

The jointed, horizontal rootstocks are the most obnoxious part 
of the plant ; round, slender, like 
tough, white whipcords, lying so 
deep in the ground as to be al- 
ways sure of moisture, they creep 
in every direction for rods even 
(the writer helped to trace one 
over eighteen feet long), sending 
up new plants at short intervals ; 
if broken and dragged about by 
farm implements, the pieces grow, 
so that ordinary cultivation but 
serves to spread the pest. Stem 
one to four feet tall, erect, slen- 
der, grooved, woody, nearly 
smooth. Leaves three to six 
inches long, sessile and slightly 
clasping, deeply and irregularly 
pinnatifid, the margins loosely 
crisped, toothed with hard, white, 
needle-like spines pointing in all 
directions. Heads in terminal and axillary clusters, the topmost 
ones opening first, the bloom proceeding in succession down the 
stalk. The heads are about a half-inch broad, imperfectly dioecious, 
the pedicels and bracts without spines, the florets rose-purple, 
fragrant. Achenes oblong, smooth, with fine, white pappus. 




Fig. 356. — Creeping or Canada 
Thistle {Circium arvense). X I. 



Means of control 

Persistent starvation of the rootstocks by keeping them de- 
prived of the food-assimilating green leaves ; this means frequent 
cutting throughout the growing season for at least two years. In 
cultivated ground the required tillage keeps the weed in check. 
In grain fields a spray of Copper sulfate in a solution of fifteen 
pounds to a barrel of water (fifty-two gallons), applied before the 
grain begins to head and when the young thistles are not more 



516 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



than ten to fifteen inches tall, will so damage the succulent tops 
that the plants will not recover sufficiently to produce buds before 
they are again cut with the grain. After harvest new plants sent 
up by the rootstocks should be cut off with a broad-shared culti- 
vator, the blades of which should be sharp and overlapping suffi- 
ciently to cut everything before them. Subsequent fall plowing 
will insure that the rootstocks get very little sustenance in that 
year. In the next season a well-tilled and profitable hoed crop 
should leave the ground clean of thistles and other weeds, and in 
good trim for a spring grain crop — barley or oats — which should 
be seeded with red clover. Waysides and waste places should 
receive attention ; in these places the patches are best treated 
with hot brine, caustic soda, or kerosene, killing all other plant 

growth as well but ridding the 
ground at once of the prickly 
pests. 

SCOTCH THISTLE 

Onopordum Acdnthium, L. 

Other English names: Cotton 
Thistle, Downy Thistle, Silver 
Thistle, Queen Mary's Thistle, 
Asses' Thistle. 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. 
Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to Septem- 
ber. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: New Brunswick and 
Nova Scotia to Ontario, south- 
ward to New Jersey and Ohio. 

Habitat: Roadsides and waste 
places. 



Said to be the heraldic plant 
of Scotland, but now probably 
more abundant in its adopted 
land than on its native heath. 
Stems three to nine feet tall, 
erect, stout, branching; the 
whole plant densely clothed all 




Fig. 357. — Sf^otch Thistle {Onopor- 
dum Acanthium). X j. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 517 

over with silvery white cotton wool. Leaves oblong lance- 
shaped, thick, irregularly lobed and toothed, decurrent on the 
stems, the margins and the broad basal wings edged with sharp, 
yellow-tipped spines. Heads terminal, solitary, large, broader 
than their height ; florets purple ; the outer bracts of the invo- 
lucre narrowly oblong, with slightly roughened edges, and tipped 
with spreading yellow spines. Achenes faintly ribbed, the pappus 
brownish and bristly. (Fig. 357.) 
Means of control the same as for the Common Thistle. 



PURPLE STAR-THISTLE 

Centaurea Calcitrapa, L. 

Other English names: Caltrops, Maize Thorn. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Atlantic States from Massachusetts to North Carolina; 

also on the Pacific Coast. 
Habitat: Pastures, roadsides, waste places. 

A bushy, deep green, leafy plant, one to two feet tall. Leaves 
only slightly hairy, the lower ones pinnately divided into lance- 
shaped, irregularly toothed lobes, the petioles often narrowly 
winged but not decurrent ; the upper ones undivided, sessile, 
slightly clasping, the teeth on all slightly spinulose but not prickly. 
Heads about an inch broad, sessile or on very short peduncles, 
terminal, or in the forks, or scattered along the branches ; in- 
volucre ovoid, and all but its innermost row of bracts tipped with 
stout, sharp, light yellow, spreading spines, a half-inch to an inch 
long, each fierce pricker subtended by one to four pairs of harmless 
little spines at its broadened base. Florets all tubular, the corollas 
reddish purple, the outer row sterile, the rest perfect and fertile. 
Achenes brown, flattened, obscurely four-sided, smooth, and with- 
out a pappus. 

Means of control 

Cutting to the surface of the ground when in first bloom, re- 
peating the operation if the plants recover and put forth new buds. 



518 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



ST. BARNABY'S THISTLE 

Centaurea solstitidlis, L. 

Other English name: Yellow Star Thistle. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: Late August to November. 

Range: Massachusetts to Ontario and Iowa, southward to the 

Carolinas and Arkansas ; also common on Pacific Coast. 
Habitat: Fields, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 



Seeds of this thistle have been noted by Alfalfa growers as a 
common impurity in Alfalfa seed, especially of states of the Ohio 
River Valley. They are so nearly the same weight of alfalfa 
seed as to make removal difficult. When 
in the soil the seeds have a vitality of 
about three years, and are a most un- 
desirable acquisition. 

Stem stout, rigid, erect, fifteen to thirty 
inches tall, widely branched, gray with 
loose woolly hair, and broadly winged by 
the decurrent bases of the leaves ; these 
are also gray -woolly, the lower ones pinnate 
with terminal segment large (lyrate), and 
lateral lobes narrow with wavy or sparsely 
toothed edges ; upper leaves small, entire, 
nearly linear, but all strongly decurrent. 
Heads terminal, solitary, more than an 
inch broad, bright yellow; involucre 
broadly ovoid or nearly globular, the 
inner row of its bracts ending in shining, 
scarious tips ; the intermediate row armed 
with rigid, yellow, divergent spines nearly 
an inch long, with one or two shorter 
ones at the base ; and the outermost row 
having short, palmately branched spines. 
Achenes light-colored, smooth, shining, 
with soft, white pappus much longer than the achene. (Fig. 
358.) 




Fig. 858. — St. Bar- 
naby's Thistle (Centaurea 
solsiitialis) . X I. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 519 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production, either by cutting while in first bloom 
or by wholly uprooting. The labor of hand-pulling in alfalfa and 
grain fields is worth the cost, if expensive seed is saved from con- 
tamination and the ground is kept from being fouled for another 
season. 

MALTESE THISTLE 

Centaurea melitensis, L. 

Other English names: Napa Thistle, Toealote. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Atlantic States, mostly in the neighborhood of seaports; 

also on the Pacific Coast ; casual in other places. 
Habitat: Fields, pastures, waste places. 

As a weed this plant is most common and troublesome on the 
Pacific Coast, and it is by means of Calif ornian seed grain that it 
has found its way into many new localities. It is an arduous task 
to cleanse the smooth, wedge-shaped achenes from such seed, but 
less strenuous than fighting the growing weeds. 

Stem stout, much branched, one to two feet tall. Flower-heads 
yellow, which cause it to be often confused with St. Barnaby's 
Thistle ; but it differs from the latter in that its hairy covering is 
roughish instead of being soft and floccose; also the leaves are 
but slightly decurrent, the lower ones pinnatifid, the upper ones 
very narrow and mostly entire. Heads terminal, about a half- 
inch broad, sometimes in clusters of two or three but often solitary ; 
bracts of the involucre stiff, the inner row terminated with weak, 
ascending, purplish spines ; the intermediate row with short, 
rigid, divergent spines, about a quarter-inch in length, either 
simple or with one or two shorter ones at base ; and the outer row 
having very short, palmatifid spines. Achenes light gray, with 
pappus often in triple rows, the central row longest, the inner and 
outer ones very short. 

The same measures should be used for its control as for St. 
Barnaby's Thistle. 



520 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

BACHELOR'S BUTTON 

Centaurea Cyanus, L. 

Other English names. \ Bluebottle, Blue Bonnets, Ragged Robin, 

Corn Flower, Hurtsickle. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range: Locally in many parts of the country; most common in 

Quebec, western New York, and Virginia. 
Habitat : Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

In Europe this plant is a pest of grain fields. In this country it 
is much cultivated in flower gardens for its beauty, but has escaped 
in many localities and, if neglected, may become troublesome. 

Stem one to two feet tall, very slender, branched and leafy and 
softly woolly all over, giving the foliage a grayish green tint ; 
when old it becomes very hard and woody, whence its name of 
Hurtsickle. Leaves alternate, three to six inches long, those on the 
upper part of the plant linear and entire, those on the lower part 
often toothed or pinnatifid. Flower-heads about an inch and a half 
broad, solitary on long, slender peduncles, usually blue, but may 
be violet, pink, or w^hite ; florets all tubular, those in the center 
small and slender, perfect, and fertile, those of the outer row much 
longer, funnel-shaped, showy, and spreading, with deeply notched 
edges, pistillate but sterile ; involucre ovoid, its bracts imbricated 
in about four unequal series, of a greenish straw-color with darker 
tips and margins, or fringed with chaffy teeth. Achenes four- 
sided, somewhat flattened, and tipped with a pappus of rough, 
rusty brown hairs of unequal length. These seeds have a vital- 
ity of several years as shown by the recurrence of seedlings on 
ground where the plants have been cultivated. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development by cutting or pulling while in early 
bloom. In this country the weed is seldom abundant in grain 
fields, but where it does appear many of the seedlings may be 
raked out with a weeding harrow, without injury to the crop, at 
the time when the first lower, pinnatifid leaves have grown. 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 521 

BROWN KNAPWEED 

Centaurea Jacea, L. 

Other English names : Rayed Knapweed, Brown Centaury. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seed. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time : Late July to November. 

Range: New England States, southward to New Jersey. 

Habitat: Fields, pastures, and waste places. 

An immigrant from Europe not yet very widely disseminated in 
this country. Stems, several from the same thick, woody, branch- 
ing root, erect, stiff, grooved, slender, one to two feet in height, 
branching near the top. Leaves narrowly lance-shaped, the lower 
ones sparsely toothed and tapering to a petiole, the upper ones 
entire and sessile. Heads showy, an inch or more broad, with 
rosy purple corollas, all tubular but the outer row with enlarged 
and lengthened lobes, simulating rays ; these showy florets are 
sterile ; involucres nearly globose, the bracts closely imbricated, 
glossy dark brown, the outer row fringed, the middle ones slightly 
lacerate, the inner ones entire or nearly so. Achenes four-sided 
and without pappus. 

Means of control 

Prevent seeding by cutting while in early bloom, and, if the area 
infested is small and the plants are not too numerous, grub out or 
hand-pull the perennial roots when the ground has been softened 
by rain. Otherwise they may be destroyed by putting the land 
under cultivation. 

BLACK KNAPWEED 

Centaurea nigra, L. 

Other English names : Horse-knobs, Hardheads, Loggerheads, Hurt- 
sickle, Spanish Buttons, Black Centaury. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : Svly to September. 
Seed-time: Late August to November. 

Range: Newfoundland to Ontario, and southward to New Jersey. 
Habitat: Fields, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 



522 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Considered in Europe a very pernicious grassland weed, because 
of its large, branching, perennial roots, hard, woody stems, and 
rough foliage, which cattle will not touch either as green forage or 
as hay. 

Stems one to two feet in height, rough-hairy, grooved, erect, 
and branching. Leaves also rough-hairy, the lower and basal 
ones three to six inches in length, spatulate-oblong, sparsely 
toothed or entire, tapering to long petioles ; the upper ones small, 
lance-shaped, entire, sessile or partly clasping, growing quite up 
to and subtending the heads. These are a little less than an 
inch broad, with rosy purple florets, all tubular, perfect, and fertile ; 
involucre globose, the bracts closely imbricated, their appendages 
very long and edged with stiff hairs like minute combs ; the outer 
and middle rows both thus fringed, the inner one merely lacerate ; 
all black or very dark brown, or the inner row lighter in color 
than the other two. Achenes four-sided, without pappus or some- 
times with a ring of minute scales. 

Means of control the same as for the preceding species. 

BLESSED THISTLE 

Cnlcus henedictus, L. 
(Centaurea benedicta, L.) 

Other English names: Holy Thistle, St. Benedict's Thistle, Our 
Lady's Thistle, Bitter Thistle, Spotted Thistle. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: May to August. 

Seed-time: June to September. 

Range: New Brunswick and Nova Scotia to Pennsylvania, Mary- 
land, and the Southern States ; also on the Pacific Coast. 

Habitat: Pastures, roadsides, waste places. 

The Blessed Thistle is a native of Asia. It is said that return- 
ing Crusaders brought the plant into Europe because of its me- 
dicinal qualities, and for the same reason it came with the early 
settlers to America. It is still the principal ingredient of "bitter 
tonics," and its leaves and flowering tops, collected in their first 
bloom and quickly dried, are quoted in the drug market at six 
to eight cents a pound. (Fig. 359.) 

Stem fifteen to thirty inches tall, stout, erect, much branched, 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



523 



and softly woolly. Leaves alternate, three to six inches long, lance- 
shaped in outline but deeply cut and lobed, the margins toothed and 
very spiny ; they are rather thin, net-veined, hairy, the lower ones 
narrowing to margined petioles, the upper ones sessile and clasp- 
ing. Heads large, solitary, terminal, closely surrounded by the 
upper leaves, deep yellow, about 
two inches broad, the florets all 
tubular, those in the central 
part perfect and fertile, those 
around the margin shorter than 
the others and sterile; invo- 
lucre ovoid, its bracts imbri- 
cated in several rows, the outer 
ones ovate and leathery, the 
inner ones lance-shaped and 
tipped with long, rigid, pinnately 
branched, reddish yellow spines. 
Achenes oblong, ridged, crowned 
with a double pappus, the inner 
row of short, fine, white hairs, 
the outer one of stiff, yellow 
bristles, about twice as long. 




Fig. 359. — Blessed Thistle (Cnicus 
benedictus) . X J. 



Mea7is of control 

Being annual, the persistent 
prevention of seed development 
will suppress the weed, and, if its leaves and budding flowers can 
be sold for enough to pay for the labor required, so much the 
better. 



NIPPLEWORT 

Ldpsana communis, L. 

Other English names: Succory Dock, Ballogan. 
Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to September. 
Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Quebec and Ontario to Michigan, southward to Pennsyl- 
vania and New Jersey ; also on the Pacific Coast. 
Habitat : Fields, roadsides, and waste places. 



524 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




Nipplewort is nearly related to Chicory, 
and, like that plant, is used as a salad in 
its European home, though not grown 
for the purpose but instead considered a 
troublesome weed in cultivated fields. 
(Fig. 360.) 

Stem one to four feet high, slender, and 
much branched, smooth above but bristly- 
hairy near the base, all parts of the plant 
containing a somewhat bitter, milky 
juice. Lower leaves usually lyrate, the 
terminal segment being very large with 
shallow-toothed or wavy edge, but the 
lateral lobes very small, often mere 
pointed wings to the petiole; upper 
leaves sessile and few, usually entire. 
Heads very numerous, few-flowered, each 
about a quarter-inch broad, composed 
all of perfect and fertile golden yellow 
ray florets, growing in loosely branched 
clusters on ver^^ slender pedicels ; invo- 
lucre cylindric, formed of a row of smooth 
linear bracts surrounded at base by a 
very few short outer ones. Achenes very 
small, pale brown, and without a pappus. 



Means of control 

Prevent seed production by cutting closely as soon as the first 
flowers appear and repeating the treatment as the plants recover 
and form new buds. 



LAMB SUCCORY 



Arnoseris miniina, Dumort 

Other English names: Hog's Succory, Dwarf Nipplewort. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time : July to September. 

Range: Maine, Ohio, Michigan. 

Habitat : Fields, waste places. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



525 



Not a common plant as yet in this 
country, and but a few years ago listed 
as only to be found at one point on the 
coast, a "fugitive" from Europe. It is 
small, with a fleshy taproot from which 
spring several naked stems, three inches 
to a foot high, sometimes simple but 
usually branching near the top, full of 
milky and bitter juices, thickened and 
hollow just below the heads. Leaves all 
basal, in a flattened rosette, two to four 
inches long, spatulate, hairy, coarsely and 
sharply toothed, tapering to margined 
petioles. Heads yellow, about a half -inch 
broad, the bracts of the involucre in one 
series, equal, thickened, narrow, pointed, 
and strongly keeled, lengthening after 
flowering and curving over the achenes, 
which are ovoid, finely ribbed, and with- 
out pappus. (Fig. 361.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production by close cut- 
ting while in early bloom. 




Fig. 361. — Lamb Suc- 
cory {Arnoseris minima). 



CHICORY 

Cichbrium Intybus, L. 

Other English names: Succory, Blue Sailors, Bunk. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Nova Scotia to Manitoba, southward to North Carolina, 

Missouri, and Nebraska. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, pastures, roadsides, city vacant lots. 



In this country Chicory is "just a weed," and a very persistent 
one, but in Europe it is cultivated for profit. The root-leaves are 
used as forage for cattle and sheep, and are blanched and used as a 



526 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



pot herb and as salad; several thousand tons of its thick, fleshy 
roots are dried and annually exported to the United States for use 
as a substitute for coffee or as an adulterant, many persons liking 
the flavor and considering the admixture to be not only more 
economical than pure coffee but also a more wholesome beverage. 
Stems two to four feet tall, round, hollow, sparsely hairy, much 

branched, changing with age from 
green to purplish red and becoming 
very hard and woody. Like the 
two preceding and all the following 
related species, its juices are milky 
and somewhat bitter. Root-leaves 
tufted, spreading on the ground, four 
to eight inches long, spatulate in 
outline but pinnatifid, narrowing into 
margined petioles, the surface rough, 
the midrib set with stiff hairs on the 
under side ; stem-leaves small, usually 
entire, clasping and auricled at base. 
Heads one to four together in sessile 
clusters on the nearly naked branches ; 
but one in each cluster is open at one 
time, only in bright sunshine and is 
usually closed again by noon ; heads 
an inch or more broad, deep sky- 
blue, the rays five-toothed at the 
tips ; bracts of the involucre green, 
the inner row erect, the outer one 
short and spreading. Achenes brown, 
five-ribbed, crowned with a row of pointed scales ; they are a 
frequent impurity of grass and clover seed. (Fig. 362.) 




Fig. 362. — Chicory (Cichorium 
Intybus). X ^. 



Means of control 

Deep cutting, below the crown, with spud or hoe will usually 
kill Chicory. Or it may be grubbed out, or hand-pulled when 
the ground is sufficiently soft to yield its hold on the long, fleshy 
taproot. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



527 



DWARF DANDELION 

Krigia virginica, Willd. 
(Adopogon carolinidnum, Britton) 

Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : April to August. 

Seed-time: May to September. 

Range: Maine to Ontario and Minnesota, southward to Florida 

and Texas. 
Habitat : Dry, sandy soil ; fields, meadows, and waste places. 



Like a small and delicate Dandelion, 
with several slender stems from the same 
root, one or two inches to a foot in 
height, simple or occasionally branched 
at the base. Leaves usually all basal, 
tufted, two to six inches long, spatulate or 
lance-shaped, irregularly cut and toothed, 
or sometimes entire, tapering to margined 
petioles. Heads about a half -inch broad, 
with yellow, spreading, five-toothed rays ; 
bracts of the involucre linear and thin, 
becoming reflexed as the achenes ripen 
and fall. The latter are slenderly top- 
shaped, five-angled, with a pappus of five 
small, rounded scales encircling an inner 
row of fine bristles. (Fig. 363.) 



Means of control ^ „^„ ^ , ^ 

•^ Fig. 363. — Dwarf Dan- 

Prevent seed production by cutting defion {Krigia virginica). 
while in early bloom. Enrich and cul- ^* 
tivate the ground, when better plants w^ll soon supersede the 
w^eed. 




CYNTHIA 

Krigia amplexicaulis, Nutt. 
{Adopogon virginicum, Kuntze.) 

Other English name: Virginia Goatsbeard. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 



528 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



Time of bloom : May to September. 

Seed-time: June to October. 

Range: Massachusetts to Ontario and Manitoba, southward to 

Georgia and Kansas. 
Habitat: Meadows, open woods, waste places. 

The roots of Cynthia are fibrous, 
clustered, and spreading, the stems one 
to two feet in height, smooth and 
naked, except that above the middle 
there is usually an oblong, clasping leaf 
— occasionally two, or three — above 
which may spring one or more branches. 
Root leaves tufted, smooth, glaucous, 
three to six inches or more long, with 
edges toothed or wavy, rarely pinnatifid, 
the petioles long and winged. Heads 
solitary, terminating stem and branches, 
more than an inch broad, with about 
twenty bright orange-yellow rays, toothed 
at tips ; involucre of smooth, thin, lance- 
shaped bracts, all of the same length. 
Achenes nearly oblong, with a pappus of 
ten to fifteen oblong, chaffy scales sur- 
rounding an inner row of fifteen to 
twenty delicate bristles. (Fig. 364.) 



Means of control 

Meadows where the plant is abun- 
dant should be put to a cultivated crop, 
well tilled, and fertilized, before reseed- 
ing. 




Fig, 364. — Cynthia (Krigia 
amplexicaulis) . X g. 



GOSMORE 

Hypochaeris radicdta, L. 

Other English names: Long-rooted Cat's-ear, Flatweed. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom : May to October. 
Seed-time: June to November. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



529 



Range: Ontario and Massachusetts to southern New Jersey; also 

on the Pacific Coast. An immigrant from Europe. 
Habitat: Gardens, lawns, fields, roadsides, and waste places. 



Root very long, thick, and fleshy ; from its crown rise several 
smooth, slender stems, one to two feet tall, usually branched but 
sometimes simple, naked except for a 
few scale-like bracts. Leaves all 
basal, three to ten inches long, 
spreading flat on the ground in a 
large tuft or rosette; they are 
broadly lance-shaped to obovate in 
outline, deeply cut and lobed, with 
terminal segment large and lateral 
ones turned backward (runcinate), 
covered on both sides with spread- 
ing hairs. Heads about an inch 
broad, yellow, with many slender 
rays, toothed at their tips, which are 
inclined to twist together as the 
blossom w^ithers and recloses. In- 
volucre nearly cylindric, its bracts 
imbricated in several series, smooth, 
appressed, pointed, the outer rows 
successively shorter. Achenes spin- 
dle-shaped, ten-ribbed, rough, con- 
tracting to a slender beak longer 
than the body; pappus a row of 
very plumose bristles. (Fig. 365.) 




Fig. 365. — Gosmore (Hypochce- 
ris radicata). X \. 



Means of control 

Where well established the Gos- 
more is nearly as persistent as the Dandelion. In cultivated 
ground the perennial roots are destroyed by the plow and 
subsequent tillage of crops. Pigs are very fond of the long, 
fleshy roots, and badl}' infested areas may be profitably 
cleaned out by turning in a few of those animals. In lawns 
the rosettes may be spudded ofi", the cut surfaces being treated 
2m 



530 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



with a liberal pinch of salt or a few drops of carbolic acid. Plants 
of roadsides and waste places should be grubbed out> or so fre- 
quently cut as to prevent seed development and distribution to the 
damgtge of adjacent property. 



FALL DANDELION 

Leontodon autumndlis, L. 

Other English names: Autumn Hawkbit, August Flower, Arnica, 

Lion's-tooth. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : Late June to October. 
Seed-time: August to November. 
Range : Newfoundland to western Ontario and Michigan, southward 

to Pennsylvania and Ohio. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 

Before flowering this plant looks very like the common Dandelion, 
the long, smooth, or slightly hairy tufted leaves having similar back- 
ward turned, sharp-pointed lobes or 
"lion's teeth." But instead of a 
taproot it has short, thick rootstocks, 
each of which may send up a tuft of 
leaves and a flowering stalk ; so that 
the weed tends to grow in patches 
and rapidly chokes out the grass in 
lawns and meadows. 

Stems six inches to two feet tall, 
smooth, slender, branching, thick- 
ened at summit, with small, pointed, 
scale-like leaves. Heads with many 
tooth-tipped bright yellow rays, more 
than an inch broad, growing singly 
at the ends of the slim, naked 
branches. Achenes brown, nearly a 
quarter-inch long, ridged lengthwise, 
not beaked like the Dandelion, but 
having a yellowish white pappus of 
one funnel-shaped row of plume- 
like bristles. (Fig. 366.) 




Fig. 366. — Fall Dandelion 
(Leontodon autujnnalis). X \. 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



531 



Means of control 

The rootstocks are shallow and horizontal In their growth, and 
plowing the rankly infested pasture or meadow kills them in one 
season as they decay with the sod. Small areas may be removed by 
deep hoe-cutting. Flowering stalks should be cut in their first 
bloom, in order that none of the plumed achenes may be dispersed 
by the wind. 

BRISTLY OX-TONGUE 

Plcris echoldes, L. 

Other English names : Bugloss Pieris, Bitter Bugloss. 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hlooin : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Locally distributed in Nova 
Scotia and Ontario and near the sea- 
ports of the Atlantic States; has 
reached as far inland as Ohio. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, and waste 
places. 

The achenes of this plant have been 
reported as an impurity in alfalfa seeds ; 
it is a very unpleasant weed, rejected 
by grazing animals because of its bitter 
juices and prickly-hairy foliage, and it 
should, if possible, be hindered from 
extending its range. 

Stems fifteen to thirty inches tall, 
branched, and closely set with stiff, 
prickly bristles. Lower and basal leaves 
large, spatulate, irregularly toothed, 
narrowed to margined petioles; stem- 
leaves much smaller, usually entire, 
sessile and clasping. Heads yellow, in 
spreading corymbose panicles, on short 
peduncles, each about a half-inch broad, 
the outer bracts of the involucre very 

large and leaf-like, pricklv-hairy, the Fig. 367. — Bristly Ox- 
• _ 1 . ^ y tongue (Picris echoides). 

mner ones membranous, narrow and x k. 




532 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



pointed. Achenes reddish brown, long-beaked like those of the 
Dandelion, with a very plumose pappus to help in their distribu- 
tion. (Fig. 367.) 

Means of control 

Deep cutting with hoe or spud while in first flower, making certain 
that no seed is allowed to mature. 




Meadow 



MEADOW SALSIFY 

Tragopogon pratensis, L. 

Other English names : Yellow Goat's Beard, 
Buck's Beard, Morning Sun, Noon-flower, 
Nap-at-noon, Go-to-bed-at-noon. 

Introduced. Biennial or perennial. Propa- 
gates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range : New Brunswick to Manitoba, south- 
ward to New Jersey, Ohio, and Michigan. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides, and 
waste places. 



This plant springs from a slender, deep- 
boring taproot, somewhat fleshy. Stem 
one to three feet tall, round, smooth, light 
green, slender, usually with several branches, 
held very erect. Leaves alternate, linear, 
keeled, clasping at base, and with long- 
pointed tips ; the lowermost perhaps a foot 
long, the topmost not exceeding two inches ; 
at maturity the edges of the leaves become 
in\olute and tips curve inward. Grazing 
animals dislike its bitter, milky juice, and 
usually leave it unmolested to reproduce 
itself. Heads solitary, terminal, golden 
yellow, nearly two inches broad, the rays 
five-notched at the tip, with the pointed 



Salsify {TragopogTnpra- bracts of the involucre in a single row, united 
tensis) . X i. at base and about as long as the rays ; the 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 533 

flowers open at sunrise and are closed again by noon. Achenes 
about a third of an inch in length, rough-ribbed, tipped with a 
wire-like beak, the pappus a funnel-formed parachute of tawny, 
plumose bristles with downy interlacing branches. (Fig. 368.) 

Means of control 

Destroy by grubbing or hand-pulling when the ground is soft. 
In view of the fact that its buoyant seeds travel widely and that 
the plant is perennial if undisturbed, it will pay to take some trouble 
for its extermination. Land badly infested should be broken up 
and put under cultivation. 

OYSTER PLANT 

Tragopogon porrifolius, L. 

Other English names: Vegetable Oyster, Garden Salsify, Purple 
Goat's Beard, Joseph's Flower, Noon-plant, Jerusalem Star. 

Introduced. Biennial or perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range : Ontario to Minnesota and Nebraska, southward to Georgia ; 
also naturalized on the Pacific Coast. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, and waste places. 

An escape from gardens where it has been cultivated for the 
fleshy, edible taproot, which, when cooked, has a flavor somewhat 
like oysters» Larger than the preceding species, with stems two to 
four feet tall, broader leaves, the peduncles dilated and hollowed 
for a space of two or three inches below the heads, which are purple, 
often three inches broad, the long, green points of the involucral 
bracts extending for about half their length beyond the ra^'s, making 
an eight- to ten-pointed green star with a purple center, whence the 
name "Jerusalem Star." Achenes brown, fully a half-inch in 
length, ridged, and tubercled, the slender beak about an inch long, 
the tawny, funnel-formed, inter-webbed pappus nearly equal in 
length. The size and weight of the seeds of both this and the 
preceding species make them very readily removable when they 
appear as an impurity among other seeds. 

Means of control the same as for the preceding species. 



534 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



GUM SUCCORY 

Chondrilla juncea, L. 

Other English names: Skeleton Weed, Naked Weed. 

Introduced. Biennial. Propagates by seed. 

Time of hloom : Blossoms most abundantly in July and August, but 

produces scattering flowers until late autumn. 
Seed-time: August until frost-killed. 

Range: Middle Atlantic States and inland to West Virginia. 
Habitat : Dry fields, roadsides, and waste places. 

First-year tufts of the large, pinnatifid 
root-leaves of this weed resemble those 
of the Dandelion very much and might 
be mistaken for them ; it has also a 
similar long, fleshy taproot^ But the 
fruiting stalks, which appear in the 
second year, are one to three feet high, 
very slender, round, rigid, bare except 
for a few scattering stem-leaves so nar- 
row and small as to seem mere awl-like 
bracts, smooth except that below the 
many branches the stem bristles with 
small, fine prickles. Heads yellow, less 
than a half-inch broad, on short pedun- 
cles ; they terminate the branches in 
groups of two or three, and also grow 
singly and sessile on the sides of the 
nearly naked branches. Achene nearly 
black, usually five-ribbed, prickly at the 
top, with a slender beak about as long as 
the seed; the pappus attached to it is 
copious, fine;, and shining white. (Fig. 
369.) 

^/^: 369 -Gum Succory Means of control 
{Chondrilla juncea). X \. 

Hoe-cutting or spudding off the crowns 
of first-year plants ; deep cutting of fruiting stems before any 
seed matures. In cultivated ground the weeds are destroyed by 
the necessary tillage. 




COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



535 



!j^fi^ 



DANDELION 

Taraxacum officinale, Weber 

Other English names: Blowball, Cankerwort, Doon-head-clock, 
Yellow Gowan, Witch's Go wan, Milk Witch. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Ti7ne of hloom : All months in the year, where the weather is not at 
freezing point. Most abundant in spring. 

Seed-time : Seeds ready for dispersal within two weeks from the un- 
folding of the flower. 

Range : Cosmopolitan. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, lawns, waste places. 

Wherever civilized man has established himself and cultivated the 
ground, he has carried and sown this weed, and, once in the soil, the 
Dandelion can be depended on to hold it. 
Drought does not affect it, the root being 
large, thick, fleshy, driven deeply into the 
soil, sometimes to a length of twenty 
inches ; and cutting the crowns from the 
roots will not kill this weed as it does 
many taprooted plants ; indeed, any part of 
a root will sprout leaves and make a new 
plant if buried in warm, moist soil. All 
parts of the plant are protected by bitter, 
milky juices which animals usually dislike, 
so that even in pastures it often thrives 
and reproduces itself unharmed. 

Leaves basal, three inches to more than 
a foot long, blunt lance-shaped in outline 
but deeply and irregularly lobed and 
toothed, the divisions usually pointing 
toward the base, somewhat hairy when 
young but soon becoming smooth, spread- 
ing on the ground in a flat rosette ; petioles 
margined and short. Scapes smooth, 
hollow, cylindrical, short at first but ^ _ 
lengthening with maturity. Flower-heads 

often nearly two inches broad, deep golden yellow, opening only 
in fair weather, and closing and reopening several times before 




Fig. 370. — DandeHon 
(T araxacum officinale). 



536 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

the whole colony is fertilized to the center ; florets all perfect and 
fertile, the rays five-toothed at their tips ; bracts of the involucre in 
two series, the outer ones short, spreading, often reflexed at matur- 
ity, the inner ones smooth, linear, erect in a single row, long enough 
to enfold the flowers after their first opening. Achenes brown, 
oblong, angled, and ridged, set around the top with fine, spinous 
tubercles, the tip extending in a slender beak, bearing a copious 
pappus of fine, white hairs. (Fig. 369.) 

Young Dandelion plants are excellent salad and pot herbs ; the 
roots are used in medicine and more than a hundred thousand pounds 
are imported annually, notwithstanding the abundant home-grown 
product. The time for collection is in autumn when the roots are 
well stored with sustenance for the next season's growth, at which 
time the milky juice is thickest and the root most bitter. The price 
is four to ten cents a pound. 

Means of control 

One method, and usually the one practiced in small lawns and 
often in large public parks, is the diligent, persistent use of spud or 
knife, cutting below the ground. The plants sprout again, and have 
to be cut again, but if no leaf-growth is allowed to feed the roots 
even old ones must finally starve. A pinch of dry salt applied to' 
the root at the time of cutting off the crown, will retard recovery. 
But winged weeds are constantly "blowing in" to replant the 
ground, and seedling Dandelions, with taproots still short and 
slender and leaves finely hairy, may be killed with chemical sprays ; 
old plants with long, well-filled roots and smooth leaves are not 
much if at all affected. But if lawns and parking are systemati- 
cally sprayed throughout the growing season with Copper sulfate 
or Iron sulfate, the grass will not be injured, seedling Dandelions 
will be destroyed, and the hairy, opening buds of old plants will 
be injured sufficiently to check development of seeds. Too often 
it is forgotten that the plants of roadside and waste places must 
not be neglected, even though growing at some distance, if 
property-owners expect any degree of success in keeping out the 
intruder. "Everlastingly keep at it" must be the motto of one 
who fights this weed. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 537 

RED-SEEDED DANDELION 

Taraxacum erythrospermutn, Andrz. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : April to June. 

Seed-time: May to July. 

Range: Maine to Virginia, westward to Michigan and Illinois. 

Habitat: Lawns, grasslands, waste places. 

Smaller than the preceding species, the leaves very slender, 
deeply pinnatifid, the backward-turning lobes very narrow and 
acute. Flower-heads about an inch broad, sulfur yellow, the 
outer row of rays purple on the under side ; bracts of the involucre 
glaucous, the outer ones lance-shaped, spreading or ascending, the 
inner row linear and usually with a small horny appendage just 
below the tips. Achenes bright brownish red, the upper part very 
spinulose, the beak less than twice the length of the achene ; pap- 
pus grayish white, very fine. 

Means of control the same as for the Common Dandelion. 

FIELD SOW THISTLE 

Sonchus arvensis, L. 

Other English names: Creeping Sow Thistle, Corn Sow Thistle, 

Milk Thistle, Swine Thistle, Gutweed. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range: Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to Manitoba and the 

Dakotas, southward to New Jersey and Illinois. 
Habitat: Grain fields, cultivated crops, roadsides, waste places. 

A most noxious weed because of the creeping, horizontal root- 
stocks extending in all directions and putting forth new plants and 
roots at the joints ; these rootstocks are rather thick, yellowish 
white, and, like all the rest of the plant, filled with a milky and 
bitter juice. Stems two to four feet tall, stout, smooth, finely 
grooved, hollow between joints. Leaves pinnatifid, the terminal 
lobe large, pointed, the lateral lobes turned backward and decreas- 
ing in size tow^ard the base ; the lower and basal leaves narrowing 
to margined petioles, the upper ones sessile and clasping by a heart- 



538 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



shaped base, all dark green, waxy-smooth, toothed with weak 
spines. Heads in large corymbose clusters, deep yellow, nearly 

two inches broad, the long rays five- 
toothed, the bracts of the involucre 
and the pedicels usually set with stiff, 
glandular hairs, though in some locali- 
ties a smooth and glaucous variety is 
common. Achene brown, about an 
eighth of an inch long, compressed, 
with wrinkled lengthwise ridges, and 
^Wnpm tufted wdth very copious, fine, white 

pappus. (Fig. 371.) 



Means of control 

Short rotations of hoed crops, re- 
ceiving very frequent, thorough, and 
late tillage, are necessary in order to 
clear the ground of this weed. It is 
not harmed by any spray. Horse cul- 
tivation serves only to break and spread 
the rootstocks. Complete prevention 
of food-assimilating green growth above 
ground is the only sure remedy. 




Fig. 371. — Field Sow Thistle 
{Sonchus arvensis). X 5. 



COMMON SOW THISTLE 

Sonchus olerdceus, L. 

Other English names : Hare's Lettuce, Colewort, Milk Thistle. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Ti7ne of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time : July to October. 

Range: Throughout North America except the far North. 

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, waste places. 



In Europe this plant is used as a pot herb, as its specific name, 
oleraceus, indicates, and is kept succulent by the constant pinching 
out of its buds. It springs from a white taproot, well fringed with 
feeding rootlets, the stem one to six feet tall, angled, branching. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



539 



smooth, green, hollow between nodes, filled with milky juice. Leaves 
lyrate-pinnatifid, the terminal lobe large and triangular, the others 
narrow and decreasing in size toward 
the base; the lower and basal leaves 
petioled, but those on the stem clasping 
with an auricled and pointed base ; the 
margins toothed with small, weak 
spines. Heads in crowded cymose 
panicles, yellow, nearly an inch broad ; 
the involucres are downy while they 
enclose the buds, but later become 
smooth. Achenes brown, slightly flat- 
tened, with roughened ribs and thickly 
tufted, white, silken pappus. (Fig. 
372.) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development. In gar- 
dens and other small areas, hand-pull 
before the first flowers mature. Stub- 
bles should have surface cultivation 
after harvest for the purpose of stirring 
into life such seeds as are on the ground, 
the seedlings to be turned under at fall plowing. Waste places 
and roadsides are too often permitted to mature seeds, to the 
damage of adjacent ground. 




Fig. 372. — Common Sow 
Thistle (Sonchus oleraceus) . 



SPINY-LEAVED SOW THISTLE 

Sonchus dsper, Hill 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of hloorn: May to October. 
Seed-time: June to November. 
Range: All cultivated parts of the world. 
Habitat: Fields, roadsides, waste places. 

More prickly than the preceding species ; the spines, though weak 
compared with those of true thistles, can make themselves felt 
when touched, while those of the Hare's Lettuce are too soft to pene- 



540 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



trate the skin. Stems one to six feet 
high, smooth, angled, branching, full of 
milky sap. Lower leaves sometimes 
pinnatifid but usually undivided and 
spatulate, tapering to margined petioles ; 
stem-leaves oblong or lance-shaped, 
clasping the stem with rounded auri- 
cles, the margins prickly-toothed, the 
surfaces dark green, smooth, and shin- 
ing. Heads similar to those of the 
Common Sow Thistle. Achenes oblong, 
compressed, margined, with smooth ribs. 
(Fig. 373.) 

Means of control the same as for 
Common Sow Thistle. 

PRICKLY LETTUCE 

Lactiica scariola, L. 
Var. integrdta, Gren. & Godr. 

Other English names: Compass Plant, 

Milk Thistle, English Thistle. 
Introduced. Annual and winter annual. 
Propagates by seeds. 
^ *• Time of bloom: July to October. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Massachusetts to Georgia and Tennessee, westward to the 
Missouri River ; also in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Most 
abundant in the Ohio Valley and in the states bordering on the 
Great Lakes. 
Habitat: All soils; invades all crops. 

A noxious weed that owes its wide range almost entirely to the 
agency of impure seed. It first appeared in Massachusetts not 
many years ago, and has since journeyed from ocean to ocean and 
could probably be found now in every state in the Union. In 
addition to its robbery of the crop in grain fields, the hard stems dull 
the reaping knives, and the copious, milky juice makes the weed 
very troublesome in threshing machines when handling a crop im- 
mediately after the reaping, without drying in the shock, as is 
frequently done in the West. 




Fig. 373. — Spiny-leaved 
Sow Thistle (Sonchus asper). 



COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



541 



Stem erect, with short lateral branches, round, smooth except 
for a few prickles near the base, sometimes attaining a height of 
seven feet but usually two to five feet tall ; occasionally it has a 
purplish tinge. Leaves alternate, light green, oblong, variable, often 
obtuse at tips but sometimes acute, with wavy, prickly-toothed 





Fig. 374. — Prickly Lettuce 
(Lactuca scariola, var, integrata). 



Fig. 375. — True Prickly 
Lettuce (Lactuca scariola). 



edges and thick, whitish green midrib, closely set with spines on 
the under side, sessile, clasping, auricled at base. Leaves of plants 
growing in the open have a vertical twist at the base which causes 
their edges to point north and south ; plants growing in the shade 
have not this twist to the leaves. Heads numerous, in a large 



542 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

panicle at the summit of the stalk and on short axillary branches ; 
pale yellow, each less than a half-inch broad, on very short 
pedicels ; beginning at the top, they open a few at a time, daily. 
Achenes brown, ridged lengthwise, with thread-like beak and 
pappus of fine, white, silken hair. (Fig. 374.) 

Not quite so obnoxious nor so common as the variety just de- 
scribed, but still a very bad weed, is the True Prickly Lettuce {L. 
scariola, L.) differing chiefly in that its prickly ribbed leaves are 
lobed or pinnatifid, and the smooth or sparsely prickled woody 
stalk usually taller ; the heads are similar but slightly smaller, very 
numerous. The plant ranges from New England and Pennsylvania 
westward to Michigan and Missouri. (Fig. 375.) 

Means of control 

Deep cutting of the tufted root-leaves, well below the crown, 
with hoe or spud ; cutting of flowering stalks at the beginning of 
bloom or earlier. In a grain field, hand-pulling of the young 
flower-stalks before bloom will be a paying operation, as the crop 
will not be worth much if the weed is allowed to absorb the fertility 
and moisture of the soil. Rankly infested ground should be put 
under cultivation for the purpose of stirring dormant seed into life 
and destroying the seedlings. Sheep and young cattle graze the 
young plants freely and prove good assistants in keeping the weed 
in check, but milch cows must not have much of it as the juices 
are bitter and will taint the milk. Seeds are widely wind-sown, and 
it is to the interest of the entire community to see that none are 
allowed to mature in roadsides and waste places. 

WILD LETTUCE 

Lactuca canadensis, L. 

Other English names: Wild Opium, Horseweed, Trumpet Milkweed. 

Native. Annual and winter annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to October. 

Seed-time: July to November. 

Range: Nova Seotia to the Northwest Territory, southward to 

Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, roadsides, and waste places. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



543 



In rich, moist soil this weed sometimes 
attains a height of ten feet, but is more 
often three to six feet tall,. Stem slender, 
smooth, often glaucous, sometimes of a 
purplish tinge but most commonly deep 
green. Lower and basal leaves lance- 
shaped in outline but deeply and irregu- 
larly lobed, the terminal segment large 
and acutely pointed, the lateral ones un- 
equal in number and size, not opposite, 
and frequently with points turned back- 
ward, narrowing to margined petioles ; 
upper leaves much smaller, often entire 
and sessile. Heads numerous, in a loosely 
branching terminal panicle and in short 
axillary clusters ; heads yellow, hardly 
more than a quarter-inch broad, the in- 
volucre cylindric, its inner row of bracts 
linear, the outer ones short and spreading. 
Achenes oblong-oval, tipped with a slen- 
der beak; pappus white, very fine and 
silky. The plant has a strong, unpleasant 
odor resembling opium, and, though cattle 
and sheep eat it readily, it will damage 
dairy products if milch cows get much of 
it. (Fig. 376.) 

Means of control the same as for 
Prickly Lettuce. 




Fig. 376. — Wild Let- 
tuce (Lactuca canadensis). 



ARROW-LEAVED WILD LETTUCE 

Lactuca sagittifdlia, Ellis 



Other English names: Devil's Ironweed, Horseweed. 

Native. Biennial, Propagates by seeds. 

Time of hloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: New Brunswick and Ontario to Georgia, westward to the 

Rocky Mountains. 
Habitat : Dry, open soil ; fields, meadows, waste places. 



544 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



Stem rather stout, smooth, two to six 
feet high, leafy to the flowering panicle. 
Leaves oblong-lance-shaped, smooth, some- 
what thick, entire or the lower ones with 
a few shallow teeth, sometimes spinulose 
on the margins, those of the stem sessile, 
clasping, and auricled at base. Heads in 
a long, loosely branched, terminal panicle 
and in smaller axillary clusters ; each about 
a quarter-inch broad, on slender pedicels, 
the rays reddish yellow; involucre cylin- 
dric, the outer bracts much shorter than 
the inner ones. Achenes oblong, flat- 
tened, shorter than the slender beak. 
Pappus fine and white. (Fig. 377.) 

Means of control the same as for Prickly 
Lettuce. 

BLUE LETTUCE 

Lactuca pulchella, DC. 

Other English names: Showy Lettuce, 

Large-flowered Blue Lettuce. 
Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds 

and by rootstocks. 
Time of bloom : June to August. 
Seed-time: July to September. 
Range: Western Ontario to the North- 
west Territory and British Columbia, southward to Michigan, 
Kansas, New Mexico, and California. 
Habitat : All crops ; most injurious in grain fields and meadows. 




Fig. 377. — Arrow 
leaved Wild Lettuce (Lac 
tuca sagittifolia). X \. 



A very handsome plant, but one of the most obnoxious weeds of 
its family and very hard to suppress. Stem slender, round, smooth, 
two to three feet tall. Leaves exceedingly variable, oblong to 
lance-shaped in outline, but the lower ones deeply cut or pinnatifid, 
with segments turned backward and often having margined 
petioles ; upper ones sessile and partly clasping, slightly toothed or 
entire, becoming linear near the top ; all smooth and glaucous. 
The whole plant, even to its fleshy, light-colored rootstocks, is 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



545 



filled with bitter, milky juice. Heads in open 
racemes, lifted on rather long, scaly-bracted 
peduncles ; they are about an inch broad, with 
numerous light blue rays, toothed at the tips ; 
bracts of the involucre imbricated in three or 
four rows, the inner ones lance-shaped, the outer 
ones shortening to pointed ovate. Achenes 
flattened club-shaped, with ridged margins and 
finely grooved sides, tapering to a short, stiff 
beak tipped with a cup-like disk to which is at- 
tached a copious, silky, white pappus which 
enables the winds to sow the seed very widely. 
(Fig. 378.) 

Means of control 

On the first appearance in any locality, it will 
pay to hand-pull or dig out the plants before 
seed production and before the rootstocks have 
penetrated far into the soil. Established root- 
stocks should be starved by persistent close 
cutting of all leaf -growth throughout the growing 
season. Where the land is badly infested, 
short rotations of cultivated crops — with very 
thorough tillage — are necessary if the weed is to 
be subdued. 

HAIRY-VEINED BLUE LETTUCE 




Fig. 378. — Blue 
Lettuce (Lactuca 
jmlchella). X \. 



Lactuca villosa, Jacq. 

Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range : New York to Illinois and Nebraska, southward to Georgia, 

Florida, and Kentucky. 
Habitat: Meadows, pastures, fence rows, and borders of woods. 

Stem two to six feet tall, round and smooth. Leaves oblong to 
lance-shaped, long-pointed, light green, smooth and glossy above 
but set with stiff bristly hairs on midrib and veins beneath, sharply 
and often doubly toothed, the lower ones usually lobed at the base 

2n 



546 COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

and narrowed to winged petioles, those on the stem sessile and 
clasping, sometimes auricled at base. Heads on large, loose, 
many-headed panicles, with diverging branchlets which usually 
have a few minute, scaly bracts ; each less than a half-inch broad 
with short blue rays ; bracts of the involucre obtuse, the outer row 
much the shorter. Achenes oblong, small, rather thick, without a 
beak ; pappus silky white. 

Means of control 

Deep cutting of autumn tufts of leaves from the roots with spud 
or hoe ; close cutting of all flowering stalks before the development 
of seed. 

TALL BLUE LETTUCE 

Lactuca spicdta, Hitche. 

Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : July to October, 

Seed-time: August to November. 

Range: Newfoundland to Manitoba, southward to the Carolinas, 

Tennessee, and Iowa. 
Habitat: Meadows, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 

A conspicuous weed, its stem three to twelve feet tall, full of 
bitter milky juice, stout, round, smooth, very leafy up to the large, 
rather dense, compound panicle. Leaves six inches to a foot long, 
two to six inches wide, deeply and irregularly lobed, sharply toothed, 
smooth above but sometimes slightly hairy on the veins beneath, 
those on the stem sessile, clasping, and auriculate, the lower ones 
narrowed to winged petioles. Heads very small, about a quarter- 
inch broad, the rays usually pale blue but sometimes cream- 
colored. Achenes slightly flattened, very short-beaked, the 
pappus tawny brown. 

Means of control the same as for the preceding species. 

RUSH-LIKE LYGODESMIA 

Lygodesmia juncea, D. Don. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: June to August. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



547 



Seed-time: July to September. 

Range : Wisconsin to the Plains of the Saskatchewan, southward to 

Missouri and New Mexico. 
Habitat : Prairies ; dry fields and meadows. 



A troublesome, persistent weed, difficult to suppress, w^hich is 
appearing locally in some of the Eastern States, traveling by 
the agencies of grass seeds or baled hay. 
Grazing animals reject it when growing 
because of the copious, bitter, and milky 
juice ; and when dried in hay its stems 
are too hard and woody to be eaten. 

It has a thick, deep-boring, w^oody root, 
from which several tufted stems arise, 
eight to eighteen inches high, erect, stiff, 
branching, round, and finely grooved. 
Lower leaves a half-inch to two inches in 
length, narrowly lance-shaped to linear, 
the upper ones becoming much smaller, 
until near the top they are mere awl- 
like scales. Heads erect, solitary and 
terminal, about a half-inch broad, usually 
five-flowered, the rays five-toothed at the 
tips, rosy pink or light purple ; involucre 
about a half-inch high, cylindric, with an 
inner row of five to eight linear bracts, 
scarious-margined, united at the base, and 
surrounded by several very short outer 
ones. Achenes very slender, nearly a 
quarter-inch long, round, tapering, truncate 
at summit, with a copious, light brown 
pappus by which they are freely wind-distributed. (Fig. 379.) 




Fig. 379. — Rush-like 
Lygodesmia (Lygodesmia 
juncea). X ^. 



Means of control 

Prevent seed development and distribution by early and repeated 
cutting. Infested grass lands should be harvested before the first 
flowers mature, and should later be broken up for a cultivated 
cleansing crop before reseeding. For newly infested areas the 



548 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



labor of hand-pulling is not too great a price to pay in order to save 
clean ground from being fouled with a growth so pernicious. 



FALSE DANDELION 

Pyrrhopdppus carolinidnus, DC. 
{Sitilias carolinidna, Raf.) 

Native. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : April to July. 

Seed-time: May to August. 

Range : Delaware to Missouri, southward to Florida, Louisiana, and 

Texas. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; fields, pastures, roadsides, and waste places. 



Very like a Dandelion in its 
appearance but for its branched 
and leafy stems ; these are one 
to nearly three feet tall, slender, 
and smooth. Basal leaves oblong 
to lance-shaped, three to eight 
inches long, coarsely toothed and 
lobed, sometimes pinnatifid, nar- 
rowing to margined petioles ; stem 
leaves more slender, acute, en- 
tire, sessile or partly clasping. 
Heads solitary at summit of stem 
and branches, nearly two inches 
broad, with many deep yellow 
rays ; involucre slightly hairy, its 
outer bracts spreading, awl-like, 
and short, subtending the linear, 
erect, and slightly united inner 
row. Achenes reddish brown, 
oblong, five-ribbed, narrowed to 
a thread-like beak, with a showy, 
copious pappus of soft rust-red 
hairs, surrounded at its base by 
a ring of white down. (Fig. 
380.) 




Fig. 380. — False Dandelion (Pyr- 
rhopappus carolinianus) . X $. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



549 



Means of control 

Prevention of seeding by persistent, frequent cutting. In cul- 
tivated ground the necessary tillage destroys the weed. 



SMOOTH HAWKSBEARD 

Crepis capilldris, Wallr. 
{Crepis virens, L.) 

Introduced. Annual or biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Tirne of hloom : July to September. 

Seed-time: August to October. 

Range: Atlantic States from New York southward; also on the 

Pacific Coast. 
Habitat: Fields and waste places. 



Hawksbeards are European weeds, 
not as yet very widely distributed in 
this country but noted in their range 
as " becoming frequent." This species 
has a stem ten to thirty inches tall, 
smooth, slender, branching at the 
top into a loose, corymbose flower- 
cluster. Basal leaves somewhat re- 
sembling those of a Dandelion, five 
to eight inches long, lance-shaped 
to spatulate, pinnatifid or merely 
coarsely toothed, narrowing to winged 
petioles; stem leaves much smaller, 
long-pointed, clasping the stem with 
an auriculate base, the upper ones 
usually entire. Heads numerous, on 
very slender peduncles, about a half- 
inch broad, gold-yellow; involucre 
cylindric, of one row of equal bracts. 
Achenes tapering at both ends, 
ten-ribbed, smooth, without a beak, 
the pappus a soft, thick, white 
aigrette attached to the apex. (Fig. 
381.) 




Fig. 381. — Smooth Hawks- 
beard {Crepis capillaris). X |. 



550 COMPOSITAE (COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development. Crowns of autumn plants should be 
hoe-cut or spudded from their roots, and flower-stalks should be 
cut in their first bloom. In cultivated ground the necessary tillage 
will keep the weed suppressed, but plants along roadsides and in 
waste places should not be allowed to mature fruit to the injury of 
neighboring land. 

NARROW-LEAVED HAWKSBEARD 

Crepis tectbrum, L. 

Introduced. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range : New York and New Jersey, westward to Ontario, Michigan, 

and Nebraska. 
Habitat : Fields and waste places. 

A smaller and more slender plant than the preceding, with stem 
one to two feet in height, branching from the base, differing also 
in that stalk and foliage are finely downy. Basal and lower leaves 
narrowly lance-shaped, with pointed, slim, backward-turning lobes, 
the edges of leaves and lobes revolute ; upper leaves nearly linear, 
entire, sessile, sometimes slightly auriculate and clasping at base, 
the margins revolute. Heads numerous, loosely clustered, bright 
yellow, nearly an inch broad, on slender, hairy peduncles ; involucre 
also downy, with lance-shaped, equal bracts. Achenes spindle- 
shaped, narrowest at apex, with ten roughened ribs and copious, 
soft, white pappus. 

Measures for suppression the same as for Smooth Hawksbeard. 



ROUGH HAWKSBEARD 

Crepis biennis, L. 

Introduced, Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range: New England to Pennsylvania, westward to Michigan. 

Habitat: Fields and waste places. 



COMPOSITAE (.COMPOSITE FAMILY) 651 

Larger than either of the preceding species, two to three feet 
high, the whole plant usually rough-hairy. Base leaves about six 
inches in length, oblong to spatulate, lobed or coarsely and very 
irregularly^ toothed, narromng to margined petioles ; upper ones 
much smaller, lance-shaped, and clasping. Heads deep yellow, 
more than an inch broad, in an open corymbose cluster ; involucre 
about a half-inch high, its principal bracts narrowly lance-shaped, 
the outer row short, pointed, and spreading. Achenes smooth, 
slightly tapering to the apex, with thirteen ribs and a spreading 
pappus of very fine, white bristles. 

Means of control 

Hoe-cutting or spudding of first year leaf-crowns from the fleshy 
root ; plants that survive to form fruiting stalks in the second year 
should be cut close to the ground before the first flowers mature. 

SMOOTH WHITE LETTUCE 

Prendnthes racemosa, Michx. 
(Ndbalus racemosus, DC.) 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time of bloom: August to September. 

Seed-thne: September to October. 

Range : New Brunswick to the Northwest Territory, southward to 

New York, New Jersey, Missouri, and Colorado. 
Habitat : Moist soil ; prairies and banks of streams, wet meadows, 

and marshes. 

A plant of very stately appearance, with a stout stalk, two to 
six feet or more in height, erect, simple, finely ridged, smooth, 
and glaucous, springing from a thick, tuberous, and very bitter root. 
Leaves light green, rather thick in texture, smooth, glaucous, the 
lower ones sometimes oval but usually oblong to obovate, four to 
eight inches in length, obtuse at apex, tapering to long, margined 
petioles, the edges with sparse and shallow teeth ; upper ones much 
smaller, long-ovate to lance-shaped, acute, often entire, sessile, 
and partly clasping. Heads in a long, interrupted, spike-like 
panicle, the clusters densely crowded, some of the heads nodding 
but the greater number erect ; florets pale purple, eight to fifteen 



552 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 




in each head ; involucre cylindric, 
with eight to ten linear bracts in its 
principal row, with a few short, 
spreading outer ones. Achenes 
small, slender, with fine, straw-col- 
ored pappus. 

Means of control 

Cut flower-stalks close to the 
ground before the buds unfold, thus 
preventing seed de^elopment and 
distribution. Drainage and cultiva- 
tion of the soil are necessary in order 
to kill the perennial roots, 

ROUGH WHITE LETTUCE 

Prendnthes dspera, Michx. 
(Ndbalus dsper, T. & G.) 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by 



Fig. 382. — Smooth White 
Lettuce (Prenanthes racemosa). 



Time of bloom: August to Septem- 
ber. 

Seed-time : September to October. 

Range : Ohio to South Dakota, south- 
ward to Kentucky, Kansas, and 
Louisiana. 

Habitat : Dry prairies ; fields, pas- 
tures, waste places. 



Grazing cattle usually leave this weed undisturbed to perfect 
its fruit, liking neither its rough-hairy foliage nor its bitter juices. 
Stem stout, simple, ridged, and bristly-hairy, two to four feet talk 
Leaves long-oval or broadly lance-shaped, rather thick and firm, 
rough on both sides, sparsely toothed, obtuse, the basal ones taper- 
ing to winged petioles ; those on the stem all sessile, the low^er ones 
clasping and obtuse, the uppermost usually entire and acute. 
Heads numerous, in a long, spike-like panicle, mostly erect on very 
short pedicels, each about a half-inch broad, wath twelve to fifteen 
cream-colored florets ; involucre cylindric, very hairy, its principal 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 553 

bracts nearly a half-inch long, linear, with a few short, pointed, 

spreading ones at base. Achenes oblong, with straw-colored pappus . 

Means of control should be the same as for Prenanthes serpentaria. 

GALL-OF-THE-EARTH 

Prenanthes serpentaria, Pursh 
(Ndbalus serpentdrius, Hoo"k) 

Other English names: Rattlesnake Root, Lion's Foot, Snake Gen- 
tian, Drop Flower, Cankerweed. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 

Time oj hloom: August to October, 

Seed-time: September to November. 

Range: Ontario, New York, and Massachusetts, southward to 
Florida and Alabama. 

Habitat: Fields, pastures, fence rows, open thickets. 

The large, tuberous roots of this weed are extremely bitter and 
once had the reputation of curing rattlesnake bites, whence its 
specific and common names ; stem and leaves partake of the same 
quality, and, even when good forage is very scarce, grazing cattle 
will leave it unmolested to bloom and mature seed. 

Stem two to four feet tall, erect, smooth, often purplish, not 
glaucous, branched above, and usually somewhat spreading. 
Leaves rather thick and firm, the lower ones often six or eight inches 
long and most variable in shape ; pinnatifid or palmately lobed or 
halberd-form or heart-shaped, usually with wavy edges or coarsely 
and very irregularly toothed, the petioles winged; upper leaves 
long-ovate to lance-shaped, often entire. Panicles rather large, 
loose, fork-branched, upcurved, the heads pendulous, chiefly in 
terminal clusters but a few in the upper axils ; florets eight to twelve, 
pale purple or cream-colored ; involucre funnel-shaped, the bracts 
often purplish, usually somewhat bristly, spreading abruptly above 
the middle. Achenes yellowish brown, wdth straw-colored pappus. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed development and distribution by close cutting 
while in early bloom. Cultivation of the ground will destroy the 
tuberous roots. Small areas should be grubbed out. 



554 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



MOUSE-EAR HAWKWEED 

Hierdcium Pilosella, L. 

Other English names: Felon Herb, Mouse Bloodwort, Ling Gowans. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by stolons. 

Time of bloom: June to September. 

Seed-time: July to October. 

Range: Ontario to Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. 

Habitat: Grasslands, lawns and yards, waste places. 

Roots tufted and fibrous, not far below 

the surface. Stem erect, slender, leafless, 

bristly-hairy, three to ten inches high. 

Leaves all basal, only two or three inches 

long and less than an inch wide, entire, 

spatulate, narrowing into short petioles, 

bristly-hairy on both sides, but green 

above while the hairs on the under side 

are star-shaped and matted into white 

wool. Thrust out from among the leaves 

are several slender, leafy runners, three 

inches to a foot in length, which take root 

and form new plants, causing the weed to 

grow in patches. Heads about an inch 

broad, solitary, golden yellow; bracts of 

the involucre in one or two series, linear. 

Fig. 383. — Mouse-ear pointed, hairy. Achenes oblong, ribbed, 

Hawkweed (Hieracium the pappus a funnel-form row of fine, 

Pilosella). XI tawny bristles. (Fig. 383.) 

Means of control the same as for Orange Hawkweed. 




ORANGE HAWKWEED 

Hieracium aurantiacum, L. 

Other English names: Devil's Paintbrush, Devil's Weed, Grim the 

Collier, Red Daisy. 
Introduced. Perennial. Propagates by seeds and by stolons. 
Time of bloom: Early June to September. 
Seed-time: July to October. 
Range: Eastern provinces of Canada, New England, and Middle 

Atlantic States to Ohio ; locally farther west. 
Habitat: Fields, meadows, pastures, roadsides, waste places. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



555 



One of the most pernicious weeds that have come to us from 
Europe, the range of which is widening every year. Grazing 
animals disHke and reject the plant even when dried in hay, for it is 
densely hairy in every part and its juices are acrid and bitter. 

Stem six to eighteen inches tall, unbranched, and without leaves 
except an occasional short bract, very slender, erect, closely set with 
short, stiff, black hairs, which, in England, 
gave the weed its name of Grim the Collier. 
Leaves basal, clustered in rosette form about 
the stem, oblong to spatulate, obtuse, dark 
green, hairy on both sides ; this flat, matted 
growth of leaves chokes out grass or other 
plants among which the weed is growing. 
Thrust out from among the leaves are 
usually several stolons, or runners, with 
young plants or buds at their tips. Flower- 
heads in a compact, corymbose cluster, on 
short, glandular-hairy peduncles, only a few 
blossoms open at one time, the rest of the 
bunch being composed of buds in various 
stages of growth. The heads are about 
an inch broad when fully open, flaming 
orange-red, the rays toothed at the tips ; 
bracts of the involucre imbricated in two 
or three series, lance-shaped, hairy. Achenes 
oblong, dark brown, ten-ribbed, w^th pap- 
pus a single row of tawnv, shining, bristle- 
like hairs, spread in funnel-form, making ?;,l^T,t,f Tf ™ 
parachutes by which the wind distributes 
them far and wide. (Fig. 384.) 




Fig. 384. — Orange 



Means of control 

The roots of this weed are fibrous and spreading and near the 
surface ; careful cultivation of the ground, particularly with hoed 
crops, destroys it. But the plant is often a pest of permanent 
grass lands where cultivation is not desirable ; here the best treat- 
ment is a liberal application of dry salt, spread broadcast over the 



556 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



patches so thickly as to cover all the plants. In the experiments 
carried on at the Vermont Agricultural Experiment Station by 
Professor Jones, it was found that as large a quantity of salt as 
eighteen pounds to the square rod may be used without serious 
injury to the grass; indeed the grass soon becomes all the finer 
when relieved of its crowding competitor, for the weed so smothers 
and "runs out" the grass that it does much more harm than a 
temporary check in growth from the salt treatment. 

Plants in roadsides and waste places should be looked after and 
destroyed. If possible, the sentiment of an entire neighborhood 
should be aroused against Orange Hawkweed, for, with a plant of 
this quality, the careful farmer is largely at the mercy of any 

slovenly cultivator who chooses 
to be regardless of communal 
welfare. 

FIELD HAWKWEED 

Hierdcium pratense, Tausch. 

Other English navies : King Devil, 
Yellow Devil. 

Introduced. Perennial. Propa- 
gates by seeds and by stolons. 

Time of bloom : June to August. 

Seed-time: July to September. 

Range : Eastern Quebec to south- 
ern New York. 

Habitat: Fields, meadows, road- 
sides, and waste places. 

Not many years have passed 
since this immigrant from Europe 
landed in this country ; its range 
is not as yet very extensive and 
it is to be hoped that it may not 
increase fast or far. Cattle re- 
fuse to eat the plant because of 
its bristly foliage and nauseous, 
bitter juices. 

Stems one to two feet tall, slen- 
der, bristly hairy, with two or three 




Fig. 385. — Field Hawkweed (Hie- 
racium pratense). X ^. 



COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 



557 



small leaves near the base, and branching at the top into a 
loose, open flower-cluster. Basal leaves tufted, narrowly oblong 
to lance-shaped, tapering backward to margined petioles, light 
green, entire, bristly hairy on both sides. Stolons few, lacking on 
many plants. Heads yellow, about three-quarters of an inch broad, 
on glandular, hairy pedicels ; bracts of the involucre nearly linear, 
pointed, blackish, sticky-hairy. Achenes brown, oblong, with 
lengthwise ridges ; pappus a ring of fine, plumose bristles arranged 
funnel shape. (Fig. 385.) 

Means of control the same as for Orange Hawkweed. 



HAIRY HAWKWEED 

Hierdcium Gronovii, L. 

Native. Perennial. Propagates by seeds. 
Time of bloom: July to September. 
Seed-time: August to October. 
Range : Massachusetts to Ontario, Illinois, 

and Kansas, southward to Georgia and 

Louisiana. 
Habitat : Dry soil ; grasslands, waste 

places. 

Stem very slender, erect, one to three 
feet tall, hairy, with a few leaves below 
the middle. Basal and lower leaves two 
to six inches long, obovate or spatulate, 
narrowing to short petioles, obtuse, en- 
tire or w^ith a few shallow teeth, rough- 
hairy above but covered on the under 
side with minute, star-shaped hairs. 
Heads in a narrow panicle,. without leafy 
bracts, each about a half-inch broad, 
light yellow, on very slender and slightly 
glandular pedicels ; principal bracts of 
the involucre in one series, nearly linear, 
acute, with an outer row very much 
shorter. Achenes spindle-shaped, with a 
pappus of fine, brown bristles, arranged 
in funnel form. (Fig. 386.) 




Fig. 386.— Hairy 
Hawkweed (Hieracium 
Gronovii). X ^. 



558 COMPOSITAE {COMPOSITE FAMILY) 

Two other species of Hawkweed are becoming abundant in 
eastern Canada and northern New York and New England. Both 
promptly named ''King Devils" by the farmers whom they vic- 
timize. Hieracium florihundum, increasing by numerous stolons 
and also by flowering branches at the base ; a smooth and glaucous 
plant except that the spatulate leaves are bristly on the margins, 
and sometimes on midrib and veins beneath. Heads in large 
dense corymbs, yellow, with blackish involucres. Hieracium 
florentmum, springing from a short stout rootstock, with smooth, 
spatulate basal leaves or sometimes sparsely bristly beneath, the 
scape often nearly two feet tall with manyheaded yellow corymb. 

Means of control 

Prevent seed production and distribution by. close cutting of 
flowering stalks while in early bloom. Cultivation of the soil 
destroys the perennial roots. Like the Orange Hawkweed these 
plants may be suppressed in grasslands by the use of salt. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bailey, L. H. 

Cyclopedia of American Agriculture. 

Cyclopedia of American Horticulture. 

Farm and Garden Rule Book. ^ Macmillan Co. 

Lessons with Plants. 

Manual of Gardening. 
Beal, W. J. 

Grasses of North America. Henry Holt & Co. 

Seed Dispersal. Ginn & Co. 
Blatchley, W. S. 

The Indiana Weed Book. Nature Publishing Co., Indianapolis. 
Britton, N. L., and Brown, A. 

Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. 

Charles Scribner's Sons. 

Chapman, A. W. 

Flora of the Southern United States. American Book Co. 
Clark, G. H., and Fletcher, J. 

Farm Weeds of Canada. Department of Agriculture, Canada. 
Coulter, John M., revised by Aven Nelson. 

New Manual of Botany for the Rocky Mountains. 

American Book Co. 
Crane, P. B. 

Quack-grass Eradication. Webb Publishing Co. St. Paul, Minn. 

Darling, Chester A. 

Handbook of Wild and Cultivated Flowering Plants. 

Mason-Henry Press, Syracuse, N.Y. 
Darlington, William. 

American Weeds and Useful Plants. Orange Judd Co. 

Ewart, Alfred. 

Weeds, Poison Plants, and Naturalized Aliens of Victoria. 

Government Printing Press, Melbourne, Australia. 
559 



560 BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Flint, Martha. 

The Garden of Simples. Charles Scribner's Sons. 

Goodrich, Charles L. 

The First Book of Farming. Doubleday, Page & Co. 
Gray, Asa. 

New Manual of Botany, Seventh Edition. 

Field, Forest, and Garden Botany. American Book Co. 

Jepson, W. L. 

Flora of Western Middle California. University of California. 

Kerner & Oliver. 

Natural History of Plants. Blackie & Son, London. 
Knight, Alfred E. 

The Living Plant. Hutchinson & Co., London. 
Knobel, Edward. 

Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes of the United States. 

Bradlee Whidden, Boston. 

Long, Harold C. 

Common Weeds of Farm and Garden. Smith, Elder & Co., London. 
Lyons, A. B. 

Plant Names, Scientific and Popular. Nelson Baker Co., Detroit. 

Needham, James G. 

Natural History of the Farm. Comstock Publishing Co., Ithaca. 

Pammel, L. H. 

Manual of Poisonous Plants. Torch Press, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

Weeds of Farm and Garden. Orange Judd Co. 
Parsons, M. E. 

Wild Flowers of California. Cunningham, Curtis & Welch, 

San Francisco. 
Percival, John. 

Agricultural Botany. Henry Holt & Co. 

Sargent, Frederick L. 

Plants and their Uses. Henry Holt & Co. 
Scribner, F. Lamson. 

American Grasses. Department of Agriculture, Washington. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 561 

Shaw, Thomas. 

Weeds and How to Eradicate Them. 

Webb Publishing Co., St. Paul. 
Small, John K. 

Flora of the Southeast-ern United States. 
Spillman, W. J. 

Farm Grasses of the United States. Orange Judd Co. 
Strasburger, E. 

Handbook of Practical Botany. Macmillan Co. 
Stevens, George T. 

Illustrated Guide to Flowering Plants. Dodd, Mead & Co. 

Walton, George L. 

Practical Guide to Wild Flowers and Fruits. 

J. B. Lippincott Co. 
Ward, H. Marshall. 

Grasses. Cambridge University Press, London. 

Warren, George F. 

Elements of Agriculture. Macmillan Co. 



2o 



LIST OF PLANTS DISTINCTLY POISONOUS OR 
MECHANICALLY HARMFUL TO ANIMAL 
LIFE 







Page 


Aster, Woody 


Xylorhiza Parryi 


429 


Barley, Wild 


Hordeum juhatum 


64 


Bunch-flower 


Melanthium virginicum 


77 


Buttercup, Bulbous 


Ranunculus bulbosus 


157 


Meadow 


acris 


159 


Camas, Death 


Zygadenus venenosus 


76 


Cherry, Wild Black 


Prunus serotina 


217 


Clover, Rabbit-foot 


Trifolium arvense 


229 


Cockle, Corn 


Agrostemma Githago 


142 


Cow 


Saponaria Vaccaria 


151 


Crowfoot, Cursed 


Ranunculus sceleratus 


154 


Darnel 


Lolium temulentum 


60 


Dogbane, Spreading 


Apocynum androscemifolium 


312 


Foxglove, Purple 


Digitalis purpurea 


382 


Hellebore, American 


Veratrum viride 


78 


Hemlock, Poison 


Conium maculatum 


300 


Water 


Cicuta maculata 


301 


Hemp, Black Indian 


Apocynum cannabinum 


314 


Henbane, Black 


Hyoscyamus niger 


373 


Horsetail, Field 


Equisetum arvense 


20 


Ivy, Poison 


Rhus Toxicodendron 


274 


Jamestown Weed 


Datura Stramonium 


375 


Johnson-grass 


Sorghum halepense 


22 


Larkspur, Dwarf 


Delphinium tricorne 


162 


Field 


Consolida 


161 


Purple 


bicolor 


165 


Sky-blue 


azureum 


163 


SmaU 


Menziesii 


166 


Tall Mountain 


glaucum 


164 


Western 


trollifolium 


167 


Laurel, Narrow-leaved 


Kalmia angustifolium 


308 


Lobelia, Great 


Lobelia syphilitica 
563 


410 



564 LIST 


F POISONOUS PLANTS 




Loco-weed, Stemless 


Oxijtropis Lamherti 


241 


Woolly 


Astragalus ynollisimus 


239 


Lupine, Nebraska 


Lwpinus plattensis 


226 


Low 


pusillus 


229 


Silvery 


argenteus 


228 


Mustard, Wormseed 


Erysimurn cheiranthoides 


195 


Nightshade, Bittersweet 


Solanum Dulcamara 


363 


Black 


nigrum 


364 


Painted Leaf 


Euphorbia heterophylla 


270 


Parsley, Fool's 


jEthusa Cynapium 


303 


Parsnip, Cow 


Heradeum lanatum 


306 


Wild 


Pastinaca sativa 


305 


Pea, Everlasting 


Lathyrus latifolius 


250 


Hoary 


Tephrosia virginiana 


238 


Meadow 


Lathyrus pratensis 


252 


Tuberous Wild 


tuberosus 


250 


Pear, Pricldy 


Opuntia Rafinesquii 


288 


Pimpernel, Scarlet 


Anagallus arvensis 


311 


Pokeberry or Pokeweed 


Phytolacca decandra 


128 


Porcupine-grass 


Stipa spartea 


39 


Rattlebox 


Crotalaria sagittalis 


222 


Sneezeweed 


Helenium autumnale 


481 


Fine-leaved 


tenujolium 


483 


Purple-headed 


nudiflorum 


482 


Snow-on-the-Mountain 


Euphorbia marginata 


267 


Sorrel, Field 


Rumex Acetosella 


96 


Spurge, Cypress 


Euphorbia Cyparissias 


272 


Upright Spotted 


Pressli 


264 


Stagger-bush 


Lyonia mariana 


310 


Stinking Willie 


Senecio Jacobcea 


506 


Sumac, Poison 


Rhus Vernix 


273 


Swallow-wort, Black 


Cynanchum nigrum 


319 


Thornapple, Purple 


Datura Tatula 


376 


Hairy 


Metel 


376 


Tobacco, Indian 


Lobelia injlata 


411 



GLOSSARY 

Abortive. Defective or barren. 

Achene. A small, dry, hard, one-celled, and one-seeded fruit, with 

tightly fitting and valveless covering. 
Acute. Sharp-pointed. 
Alternate (leaves). Not opposite; arranged singly at different heights 

on the axis. 
Annual. A plant which matures fruit in one year. 
Anther. The part of a stamen which contains the pollen. 
Appressed. Lying flatly and close against. 
Ascending. Curving upward or rising obliquely. 
Auricle. An ear-shaped lobe or appendage. 
Awl-shaped. Tapering from the base to a rigid point. 
Awn. A very slender but stiff and bristle-like appendage. 
Axil. The angle formed by the junction of a leaf or branch with the 

stem. 
Axillary. Situated in an axil. 

Barbed. Tipped with sharp, rigid, and reflexed points. 
Beaked. Having a tapering, prolonged tip. 
Berry. A simple fruit which is wholly pulpy or fleshy except the outer 

skin. 
Biennial. Of two years' duration. 
Blade. The flat, expanded part of a leaf. 
Bract. A more or less modified leaf subtending a flower, or a flower 

cluster, or sometimes borne on a stem. 
Bulb. An underground leaf -bud with fleshy scales or coats. 
Bulbous. Bearing bulbs. 
Calyx. The outer floral envelope. 
Canescent. Hoary with fine gray hairs. 
Capillary. Hair-like. 
Capitate. Shaped like a head. 
Capsule. A dry fruit of two or more carpels, opening usually by valves 

or teeth. 
Carpel. A single ovary, or one part of a compound ovary. 

565 



B66 GLOSSARY 

Cell. A cavity of an ovary or of an anther. 

Ciliate. Fringed with marginal hairs. 

Coma. A tuft of hairs at the end of some seeds. 

Comose. Bearing tufted hairs at the apex. 

Compound. Composed of similar parts forming one whole. 

Compressed. Flattened laterally. 

Connate. Similar structures more or less united. 

Corm. The swollen, fleshy, and solid base of a stem. 

Corolla. The inner floral leaves or petals, which may be distinct 

or more or less united. 
Corymb. A convex or flat-topped flower cluster with pedicels or 

rays arising from different points on the axis, and with the pro- 
gression of bloom from the margin inward. 
Crenate. Scalloped ; having rounded teeth. 
Culm. The stem peculiar to grasses and sedges. 
Cyme. A convex or flattened flower cluster of which the central 

flowers first unfold, the progression of bloom being toward the 

margin. 
Deciduous. Not persistent ; falling away at the end of the growing 

period. 
Decumbent. Declining but with the end ascending. 
Decurrent (leaf). Extending down the stem below the insertion. 
Deflexed. Turned abruptly downward. 
Dehiscent. Opening regularly by valves, slits, or teeth. 
Depressed. Flattened vertically. 
Diffuse. Widely or loosely spreading. 
Dioecious. Bearing staminate or male flowers on one plant, and 

fertile or pistillate flowers on another plant. 
Disk. In Compositce, the tubular flowers of the head as distinct from 

the rays. 
Drupe. A fleshy or pulpy fruit having an inner portion of the pericarp 

hard and bone-like. 
Entire. Without divisions, lobes, or teeth. 
Exserted. Projecting beyond an envelope, as the stamens from a 

corolla. 
Fascicle. A close bundle or cluster. 
Fertile. Bearing fruit or seed. 
Filament. The part of a stamen which supports the anther; any 

thread-like body. 
Floret. A small flower, usually one of a head or a dense cluster. 
Follicle. A fruit consisting of a single carpel, opening by the ventral 

or inner suture. 



GLOSSARY 567 

Fruit. The seed-bearing product of any plant, simple, compound, or 

aggregated, of whatever form. 
Glabrous. Smooth ; without hairs. 
Gland. A secreting cell or structure. 
Glaucous. Covered with a white or bluish-white bloom. 
Globose. Nearly spherical. 
Glume. One of the two outer chaffy bracts at the base of the spikelet 

in the grasses. 
Habitat. A plant's natural place of growth. 
Halberd-shaped. Like an arrow-head but with the basal lobes pointing 

outward instead of backward. 
Herb. A plant with no persistent woody stem above the ground. 
Hirsute. Bearing rather coarse, stiff hairs. 
Hispid. Set with rigid or bristly hairs. 
Imbricated. Overlapping. 
Included. Not protruding from, the surrounding envelope, as the 

stamens from the corolla. 
Indehiscent. Persistently closed ; a fruit covering without an opening. 
Indigenous. Native to the region of growth. 
Inflated. Bladder-like. 
Inserted. Attached to or growing out of. 

Internode. The portion of a stem between two nodes or joints. 
Introduced. Brought from another region to the place of growth. 
Involucre. A circle or whorl of bracts subtending a flower cluster, 

or a head, or a single flower. 
Involute. Rolled inward. 

Irregular. Showing inequality in size and form of similar parts. 
Keeled. Centrally ridged along the back. 
Leaflet. A single division of a compound leaf. 

Lemma. The lower of the two bracts inclosing the flower in the grasses. 
Ligule. The thin projection at the top of the sheath in grasses ; the 

ray flowers in Composites. 
Linear. Long and narrow with sides nearly parallel. 
Lobe. Any segment of an organ, especially if rounded. 
Lyrate. Pinna tifid, with the terminal lobe much larger than the 

others. 
Membranous. Thin, rather soft and more or less translucent. 
Monoecious. Bearing stamens and pistils in different flowers but on 

the same plant. 
Naturalized. Not native to the region of growth. 
Nectary. An organ or cavity where nectar is secreted. 
Nerve. An unbranched vein or a slender rib. 



568 GLOSSARY 

Neutral. Without stamens or pistils. 

Node. The part of a stem or branch at which a leaf or leaves are 

borne. 
Oblong. Longer than broad with sides nearly parallel. 
Obovate. Inversely ovate. 
Obovoid. Inversely ovoid. 
Obtuse. Blunt or rounded at apex. 
Ovary. The part of a pistil which contains the seeds. 
Ovate. Having an egg-shaped outline with the broader end at the base. 
Ovoid. Egg-shaped. 

Ovule. The body which after fertilization becomes the seed. 
Palea. The upper of the two bracts which inclose the flower in grasses. 
Palmate (leaf). With segments radiately diverging. 
Panicle. A somewhat loose and irregular compound flower cluster. 
Pappus. In Compositce the bristles, awns, teeth, or scales which crown 

the achene. 
Parasite. A plant which grows upon other plants and absorbs their 

juices. 
Pedicel. The support of one of the flowers composing a flower cluster. 
Peduncle. The stalk of a flower cluster or of a single flower. 
Perennial. Lasting year after year. 
Perfect (flower). Having both stamens and pistils. 
Perfoliate. A leaf so clasping the stem as to seem pierced by it. 
Perianth. The floral envelope, sepals and petals, regarded collectively. 
Persistent. Said of organs which remain attached to their place of 

growth after growth has ceased. 
Petal. One of the divisions of the inner floral envelope or corolla. 
Petiole. The footstalk of a leaf. 
Pinnate (leaf). Compound, with leaflets arranged along the sides 

of a common petiole. 
Pinnatifid. Pinnately cleft. 
Pistil. The seed-bearing organ of a flower, consisting of ovary, stigma, 

and style, or the latter sometimes lacking. 
Pistillate. Having pistils ; ordinarily used in the sense of having no 

stamens. 
Pod. Any dry and dehiscent fruit. 
Pollen. The fertilizing grains borne in the anthers. 
Prickle. A sharp outgrowth from the bark of a stem, or on the surface 

or stalk of a leaf. 
Procumbent. Lying or trailing on the ground but without rooting 

at the nodes. 
Prostrate. Lying flat on the ground. 



GLOSSARY 569 

Pubescent. Covered with short, soft, and down-like hairs. 

Raceme. An elongated simple flower cluster with each flower pedi- 

celled. 
Rachis. The axis of a spike or a raceme, or of a compound leaf. 
Ray. One of the flower stalks of an umbel ; the strap-shaped marginal 

flowers in the Compositce. 
Receptacle. The more or less expanded end of the stem which bears 

the organs of a flower, or, in the Compositos, the collection of flowers 

in a head. 
Recurved. Curved downward or backward. 
Reflexed. Bent abruptly downward or backward. 
Regular. Having the members of each part alike in form and size. 
Revolute. Rolled backward from the margin or apex. 
Rib. A primary or prominent vein in a leaf. 
Rootstock. An underground, bud-bearing stem. 
Scape. A naked or nearly leafless flower-stalk arising directly from 

the crown of the root. 
Scarious. Thin, dry, and membranous, not green. 
Segment. One of the divisions of a lobed or cleft leaf, or other organ 

of a plant. 
Sepal. One of the divisions of a calyx. 
Serrate. With sharp, forward-pointing teeth. 
Sessile. Without a footstalk of any kind. 

Sheath. A tubular envelope, as the lower part of the leaf in grasses. 
Silicle. A short silique. 
Silique. The pod peculiar to the Cruciferce. 
Simple. Not compound. 
Sinuate. Wavy-edged. 

Sinus. The cleft or space between two lobes. 
Spadix. A flower spike having a fleshy axis. 
Spathe. A large bract or a pair of bracts inclosing a spadix or a flower 

cluster. 
Spatulate. Narrowing gradually toward the base from a rounded apex. 
Spike. An elongated flower cluster with flowers sessile or nearly so 

upon its axis. 
Spine. A sharp and rigid outgrowth from the stem of a plant. 
Spur. A tubular or sac-like extension of some part of a flower, usually 

nectar-bearing. 
Stamen. One of the pollen-bearing organs of a flower. 
Stem. The main ascending axis of a plant. 

Sterile. Unproductive, as a flower without a pistil, or a stamen with- 
out an anther. 



570 GLOSSARY 

Stigma. That part of the pistil through which pollen grains penetrate 

and effect fertilization. 
Stipe. The stalk-like support of a pistil ; the leafstalk of a fern. 
Stipule. An appendage at the base of a leafstalk or on each side of 

its insertion. 
Stolon. A runner, or any basal branch which takes root at the nodes. 
Striate. Marked with lengthwise lines or ridges. 
Style. The (usually) slender and elongated part of a pistil connecting 

the ovary and stigma. 
Succulent. Juicy and fleshy. 

Suture. The line of splitting or opening of a dehiscent fruit. 
Ternate. Arranged in threes. 
Tendril. Very slender, coiling organs by which some climbing plants 

cling to a support. 
Tomentose. Densely covered with wool-like hairs. 
Truncate. Ending abruptly as if cut off squarely. 
Tuber. A short, thickened, underground branch having numerous 

buds or " eyes." 
Umbel. A flower cluster having all the pedicels arising from the same 

point. 
Unisexual. Bearing staminate and pistillate flowers on different 

plants. 
Utricle. The bladder-like covering of a one-seeded fruit. 
Valve. One of the divisions into which a capsule splits. 
Vein. Branching threads of fibrous tissue in leaves and other organs. 
Viscid. Glutinous or sticky. 
Whorl. Arranged in a circle around a stem. 



INDEX 

Names of families and species in Italics ; common names in Roman type. 



Aaron's Rod, 202 

Absinth, 498 

Abutilon Avicennce, 276 

Theophrasti, 276 
Acalypha virginica, 262 
Achillea Millefolium, 486 

P tar mica, 487 
Acnida tuberculata, 125 
Actinomeris alternifolia, 468 
Adopogon carolinianum, 527 

virginianum, 527 
JSthusa Cynapium, 303 
Agrimonia gryposepala, 212 

hirsuta, 212 

mollis, 213 

parviflora, 214 
Agrimony, Small-flowered, 214 

Soft, 213 

Tall Hairy, 212 
Agropyron repens, 61 
Agrostemma Githago, 142 
Ajuga reptans, 346 
Ale-cost, 494 
Ale-hoof, 351 
Amiaria, 258 
Alkanet, Bastard, 339 
Allelulia, 224 
Alliaria officinalis, 190 
Allionia hirsuta, 130 

linearis, 131 

nyctaginea, 129 
Allium canadense, 83 

vineale, 80 
Alopecurus geniculatus, 45 
Alsine graminea, 138 

media, 139 
Alyssum, Hoary, 173 
Amaranth, Low, 123 

Hairy, 124 
Amaranthus albus, 122 

blitoides, 123 

grcecizans, 122 



Amaranthus retroflexus, 120 

spinosus, 124 
Ambrosia, 108 

Tall, 454 
Ambrosia arte?nisiifolia, 455 

psilostachya, 457 

trifida, 454 
Ampelanus albidus, 319 
Amsinckia intermedia, 336 
Anagallis arvensis, 311 
Andromeda, Maryland, 310 
Andropogon halepensis, 22 

virginicus, 21 
AnemoDe, Tall, 160 
Anemone virginiana, 160 
Anemopsis calif ornica, 85 
Angle-pod, 319 
Antennaria dioica, 443 

neglecta, 443 

plantaginifolia, 441 
Anthemis arvensis, 489 

cotula, 488 

tinctoria, 490 
Antimony, Vegetable, 417 
Anychia polygonoides, 134 
Apocymcm androscemifolium, 312 

cannabinum, 314 
Apple, Earth, 467 

Mad, 375 

Mock, 406 

of Peru, 372 

of Sodom, 365 

Wild Balsam, 406 
Aragallus spicatus, 241 
Arctium Lappa, 508 

minus, 510 
Arenaria serpyllifolia, 137 
Argemone mexicana, 172 
Aristida, Few-flowered, 42 
Aristida dichotoma, 41 
fasciculata, 42 
I oligantha, 42 
571 



bi'Z 



INDEX 



Arnica, 530 , 

Arnoseris minima, 524 
Artemisia Absinthium,, 498 

annua, 497 

biennis, 497 

frigida, 499 

tridentata, 500 

vulgaris, 496 
Artichoke, Jerusalem, 467 
Asclepias incarnata, 316 

speciosa, 317 

syriaca, 317 

tuberosa, 315 
Asses' Ears, 337 
Aster, Bushy, 428 

Early Purple, 435 

Hairy Golden, 423 

Heart-leaved, 431 

Many-flowered, 433 

Maryland Golden, 422 

New England, 430 

Purple-stemmed, 435 

Smooth, 431 

Tradescant's, 434 

White Heath, 432 

White Wreath, 433 

Willow-leaved, 435 

Woody, 429 
Aster cordifolius, 432 

ericoides, 432 

Icevis, 431 

multiflorus, 433 

novce-anglice, 430 

puniceus, 435 

salicif alius, 435 

Tradescanti, 434 
Astragalus mollisimus, 239 
Atriplex patula, 114 
Avena fatua, 48 
Avens, White, 210 
Axyris amarantoides, 119 

Bachelor's Button, 520 
Backwort, 337 
Ballogan, 523 
Balm, Field, 351 

Stinking, 358 
Balsam, Old Field, 443 

Sweet White, 443 
Balsam-flowers, 234 
Balsam Posy, 443 
Balsam weed, Clammy, 444 



Bamboo, Prickly, 83 
Barbarea prcecox, 197 
verna, 197 

vulgaris, 196 
Barberry, Common, 168 
Barley, Little, 65 

Wall, 66 

Wild, 64 
Basil, Field, 359 

Stone, 359 

Wild, 359 
Baughlan, 506 
Bean, Blue, 228 

Pink, 254 

Small Wild, 254 

Trailing Wild, 253 
Beard-tongue, Fox-glove, 381 
Bedstraw, Rough, 398 
Beggar's Buttons, 508 
Beggar's Lice, 334 
Beggar-tick, Big, 474 

Swamp, 475 
Beggar-ticks, 334, 473 
Behen, 148 
Bell-bind, 321 
Bell-flower, Clasping, 408 

Creeping, 409 

Tall, 410 
Berberis vulgaris, 168 
Berry, Pigeon, 128 

Poison, 364 

Stubble, 364 
Berteroa, Gray, 173 
Berteroa incana, 173 
Bidens aristosa, 478 

bipinnata, 477 

cernua, 476 

comosa, 475 

connata, 475 

frondosa, 473 

loBvis, 476 

trichosperma, 478 

vulgata, 474 
Bindweed, Black, 104 

Blue, 363 

Bracted, 323 

European, 321 

Field, 321 

Great, 323 

Hedge, 105, 323 

Knot, 104 
Birds as weed destroyers, 10 



INDEX 



573 



Birdseed, 504 
Blackberry, Running, 211 
Black-brush, 207 
Black-eyed Susan, 462 
Black Sampson, 463 
Bladder Ketmia, 282 
Bladder-pod, 411 
Blanket-flower, 484 
Blanket-leaf, 377 
Blite, Strawberry, 110 

Mulberry, 110 
Blood-leaf, 126 
Blood-stanch, 439 
Bloodwort, 486 " 

Mouse, 554 
Bloom-fell, 237 
Blowball, 535 
Blvie Bonnets, 520 
Bluebottle, 520 
Blue Curls, 348 
Blue Sailors, 525 
Blue-top, 367 
Boebera papposa, 485 
Boehmeria cylindrica, 90 
Bcerhaavia erecta, 132 
Boltonia asteroides, 428 
Boneset, 417 

Deerwort, 418 

False, 419 

Purple, 416 
Bouncing Bet, 149 
Bracken, 17 
Brake, Common, 17 

Meadow, 18 

Polypod, 18 

Turkey-foot, 17 
Bramble, Prairie, 216 

TraUing, 211 
Brassica alba, 186 

arvensis, 184 

juncea, 185 

nigra, 187 

sinapistrum, 184 
Brauneria purpurea, 463 
Brier, Chain, 83 

Sand, 365 

Saw, 83 

Sweet, 214 
Bromus hordeaceus, 57 

secalinus, 55 

tectorum, 58 
Broom, Base, 224 



Broom, — Continued 

Dyer's, 224 
Broom-rape, Branched, 387 

Clover, 389 

Hemp, 387 

Lesser, 389 

Louisiana, 390 

Tobacco, 387 
Bruisewort, 337 
Buckhorn, 392 

Bristly, 394 

Gray, 394 
Buck's-beard, 532 
Buckwheat, Climbing False, 105 

Hedge, 105 

Wild, 104 
Bugbane, 78 
Bugle, Brown, 346 
Bugleweed, Creeping, 346 
Buglewort, 360 
Bugloss, Bitter, 531 

Small, 338 

Viper's, 342 
Bugseed, 116 
Bulrush, Dark-green, 73 
Bunch-flower, Common, 77 
Bunk, 535 
Bur, Bathurst, 460 

Blue, 334 

Buffalo, 368 

Button, 461 

Cockspur, 34 

Colorado, 368 

Ditch, 461 

Dog, 332 

Paroquet, 297 

Sand, 368 

Sheep, 334, 461 
Burdock, Common, 510 

Great, 508 

Prairie, 448 
Burseed, 334 
Burweed, Hedgehog, 461 

Thorny, 460 

Yellow, 336 
Butter and Eggs, 379 
Buttercup, Abortive, 155 

Bog;, 154 

Bulbous, 157 

Creeping, 156 

Early, 156 

Meadow, 159 



574 



INDEX 



Buttercup, — Continued 

Tufted, 156 
Butterprint, 276 
Buttons, Bitter, 495 

Cockle, 508 

Spanish, 521 
Buttonweed, Rough, 400 

Smooth, 399 

Cabbage, Hare's-ear, 189 
Cactus, Ball, 290 

Bird's-nest, 291 

Globe, 290 

Missouri, 291 

Nipple, 291 

Purple, 290 

Russian, 117 
Calabazilla, 404 
Calamint, 359 
Calfkill, 308, 310 
Caltrops, 517 

Land, 259 
Camas, Death, 76 

Poison, 76 
Camelina microcarpa, 182 

saliva, 181 
Campanula americana, 410 

rapunculoides, 409 
Campion, Bladder, 148 

Corn, 142 

Meadow, 143 

Red, 144 

White, 145 
Cancer Jalap, 128 
Candlewick, 377 
Cankerwort, 535 
Cannabis saliva, 86 
Capriola Daclylon, 51 
Capsella Bursa-pasloris, 180 
Cardamine bulbosa, 197 
Carduus allissimus, 512 

arvensis, 514 

lanceolalus, 510 

ochrocentrus, 513 

odoralus, 512 
Carpetweed, 135 
Carrot, Wild, 307 
Caseweed, 180 
Cassia Chamcecrisla, 221 

marilandica, 218 

occidenlalis, 220 
Catchfly, Forked, 147 



Catchfly, — Continued 

Hairy, 147 

Night-flowering, 147 

Sleepy, 146 
Catchweed, 397 
Cat Fitch, 247 
Catgut, 238 
Catmint, 350 
Catnip, 350 

Cat's-ear, Long-rooted, 528 
Cat's-foot, 351 

Field, 443 
Cat's Milk, 272 
Celandine, Great, 169 
Cenchrus tribidoides, 34 
Cenlaurea benedicla, 522 

Calcitrapa, 517 

Cyanus, 520 

Jacea, 521 

melilensis, 519 

nigra, 521 

solslilialis, 518 
Centaury, Black, 521 

Brown, 521 
Ceraslium arvense, 140 

vulgatum, 141 
Chafeweed, 443 

Chamcenerion angustifolium, 294 
Chamomile, Corn, 489 

Fetid, 488 

Field, 489 

German, 492 

Rayless, 492 

Scentless, 491 

Wild, 492 

Yellow, 490 
Charlock, 184 

Jointed, 183 

White, 183 
Cheat, 55 
Cheeses, 280 
Chelidonium majus, 169 
Chenopodiujn album, 112 

ambrosioides, 108 

Botrys, 110 

capilalum, 110 

glaucum, 110 

hybridum, 112 

murale, 114 
Cherry, Bladder, 370 

Choke, 218 

Wild Black, 217 



INDEX 



675 



Chess, 55 

Early, 58 

Slender, 58 

Soft, 57 
Chickweed, Common, 139 

Common Mouse-ear, 141 

Field Mouse-ear, 140 

Forked, 134 

Germander, 387 

Indian, 135 

Poison, 311 

Red, 311 

Whorled, 135 ^ 
Chicory, 525 
Children's Bane, 301 
Chinaman's Greens, 120 
Chondrilla juncea, 534 
Chrysanthemum Balsamita, 494 

Leucanthemum, 493 
Chrysopsis mariana, 422 

villosa, 423 
Chufa, 70 

Cichorium, Intybus, 525 
Cicuta m.aculata, 300 
Cinquefoil, Common, 209 

Norway, 205 

Shrubby, 207 

Silvery, 206 
Circium altissimum, 512 

arvense, 514 

lanceolatum, 510 

ochrocentrum , 513 

pumilum,, 512 
Clay weed, 501 
Cleavers, 397 
Cleome, Pink, 199 
Cleome serrulata, 199 
Climath, 274 
CHng Rascal, 397 
Clinopodiwn vulgar e, 359 
Clotbur, 461 
Clover, Black-seeded Hop, 234 

Bokhara, 232 

Bur, 235 

Bush, 245 

Cabul, 232 

Cat's, 237 

Clammy, 198 

Devil, 387 

Hare-foot, 229 

Hart's, 234 

Hop, 231 



Clover, — Continued 

King's, 234 

Old Field, 229 

Pin, 258 

Pussy, 229 

Rabbit-foot, 229 

Spiny, 460 

Stinking, 198, 199 

Stone, 229 

Tree, 232 
Clown's Heal, 357 
Cnicus benedictus, 522 
Cocash, 435 
Cockle, China, 151 

Clammy, 147 

Corn, 142 

Cow, 151 

Pink, 151 

Purple, 142 

Spring, 151 

Sticky, 147 

White, 145 
Cocklebur, 461 

Dagger, 460 

Spiny, 460 
Coffee, Magdad, 220 

Negro, 220 

Wild, 401 
Colewort, 538 
Coltsfoot, 501 

Sweet, 502 
Comfrey, 337 
Cone-flower, Long-headed, 464 

Prairie, 464 

Purple, 463 
Conium maculatum, 300 
Conringia orientalis, 189 
Convolvulus arvensis, 321 

sepium., 323 
Copper-leaf, 262 
Coreopsis lanceolata, 471 

tripteris, 472 
Corispermum hyssopifolium, 116 

nitidum, 116 
Corn Flower, 520 
Corn Salad, 402 
Coronopus didymus, 179 
Costmary, 494 
Cough wort, 501 
Cowbane, Spotted, 300, 301 
Cow-bell, 148 
Cow-bind, 321 



576 



INDEX 



Cow-cress, 178 
Cow-herb, 151 
Cow-poison, 164 
Cowthwort, 356 
Cracca virginiana, 238 
Crane's-bill, Small-flowered, 257 
Creeping Jack, 200 
Crepis biennis, 550 

capillaris, 549 

virens, 549 
Cress, Bastard, 174 

Bitter, 197 

Bulbous, 197 

Carpet, 179 

Field, 178 

Lesser Wart, 179 

Penny, 174 

Rocket, 196 

St. Barbara's, 196 

Spring, 197 

Swine, 179 

Winter, 196 
Crosswort, 417 
Crotalaria sagittalis, 222 
Croton capitatus, 261 
Crowfoot, Celery-leaved, 154 

Cursed, 154 

Ditch, 154 

Early, 156 

Small-flowered, 155 

Tall, 159 
Crownbeard, Golden, 470 

Sunflower, 469 
Crown-of-the-Field, 142 
Crowtoes, 237 
Cucumber, One-seeded Bur, 405 

Climbing Wild, 406 
• Four-seeded Bur, 406 

Star, 405 
Cucurbita fcetidissima, 404 

perennis, 404 
Cudweed, Clammy, 444 

Childing, 441 

Low, 445 

Marsh, 445 

Winged, 444 
Cuphea, Clammy, 291 
Cuphea petiolata, 291 
Cuscuta arvensis, 328 

Epilinum, 327 

Epithymum, 324 

Gronovii, 328 



Cycloloma atriplicifolium, 106 
Cynanchum nigrum, 319 
Cynodon Dactylon, 51 
Cynoglossum officinale, 332 
Cynthia, 527 
Cyperus, Baldwin's, 72 

Hydra, 68 

Straw-colored, 71 
Cyperus diandrus, 67 

echinatus, 72 

esculentus, 70 

rotundus, 68 

strigosus, 71 

Daisy, Blue Spring, 436 

Cone-headed, 464 

Michaelmas, 434 

Midsummer, 493 

Ox-eye, 462, 493 

Red, 554 

Stinking, 458 

White, 493 

Yellow, 462 
Dandelion, 535 

Dwarf, 527 

Fall, 530 

False, 548 

Red-seeded, 537 
Danthonia spicata, 50 
Darkey-heads, 462 
Darnel, Bearded, 60 

Common, 59 

Poison, 60 

White, 60 
Datura Metel, 376 

Stramonium, 375 

T alula, 376 
Daucus carota, 307 
Death-of-Man, 301 
Delphiniuyn azureum, 163 

hicolor, 165 

carolinianum,, 163 

Consolida, 161 

glaucum, 164 

Menziesii, 166 

trollifolium, 162, 167 
Desmodium canadense, 244 

canescens, 243 
Devil, Blue, 342 

King, 557 

Yellow, 556 
Devil's Apple, 375 



INDEX 



bll 



Devil's Bootjack, 473 
Devil's Fig, 172 
Devil's Grandmother, 415 
Devil's Grass, 61 
Devil's Gut, 324 
Devil's Hair, 324 
Devil's Ironweed, 543 
Devil's Milk, 169 
Devil's Paintbrush, 554 
Devil's Plague, 307 
Devil's Shoe-strings, 238 
Devil's Trumpet, 375 
DevU's Vine, 323 
Devil's Weed, 554 
Dewberry, 211 
Dewtry, 375 
Digitalis pur ■pur ea, 382 
Digitaria humifusa, 27 

sanguinalis, 26 
Dillweed, 488 
Diodia teres, 400 
Diplotaxis niuralis, 188 
Dipsacus sylvestris, 403 
Dock, Bitter, 94 

Broad-leaved, 94 

Butter, 502 

Butterfly, 502 

Curled, 91 

Dove, 501 

Elf, 446 

Flea, 502 

Narrow-leaved, 91 

Patience, 90 

Prairie, 448 

Round, 280 

Sour, 94 

Succory, 523 

Velvet, 377, 446 

Willow-leaved, 93 

Yellow, 91 
Dodder, Clover, 324 

Common, 328 

Field, 328 

Flax, 327 

Onion, 328 

Wild, 328 
Dogbane, Spreading, 312 
Dog Fennel, 488 

Yellow, 485 
Dog Finkle, 488 
Dog's Tongue, 332 
Doon-head-clock, 535 

2p 



Drop-flower, 553 
Drop-seed, Indian, 47 

Mexican, 43 
Duck-retter, 78 
Duckweed, 152 
Duscle, 364 
Dyssodia papposa, 485 

Earth-gall, 78 
Echinochloa crus-gaUi, 30 
Echinocystis lobata, 406 
Echinospermum Lappula, 334 
Echium vulgar e, 342 
Elecampane, 446 
Elephantopus totneniosus , 415 
Elephant's Foot, Woolly, 415 
Eleusine indica, 53 
Ellisia Nyctelea, 330 
Enslenia albida, 319 
Epilohium angustifolium, 294 
Equisetum arvense, 20 
Eragrostis major, 54 

megastachya, 54 

pilosa, 54 
Erechtites hieracifolia, 503 
Erigeron annuus, 438 

canadensis, 439 

philadelphicus , 437 

pulchellus, 436 

ramosus, 439 
Er odium cicutarium, 258 

moschatum, 258 
Erysimum cheiranthoides, 195 
Eupatorium ageratoides, 418 

coelestinum, 419 

perfoliatum., 417 

purpureum, 416 

urticoefolium, 418 
Euphorbia corollata, 268 

Cyparissias, 272 

dentata, 269 

Esula, 271 

Helioscopia, 272 

heterophylla, 270 

hirsuta, 265 

maculata, 266 

marginata, 267 

nutans, 264 

Preslii, 264 

serpyllifolia, 263 
Euthamia graminifolia, 426 
Evening Primrose, 295 



578 



INDEX 



Everlasting, Clammy, 444 

Common, 443 

Early, 441 

Fragrant, 443 

Many-headed, 443 

Mouse-ear, 441 

Plantain-leaved, 441 

Spring, 441 

Sweet, 443 
Eye-bright, 264 

Farewell Summer, 434 
Fat Hen, 112 
Felonwort, 169, 363 
Feltwort, 377 
Fern, Eagle, 17 

Parsley, 495 

Sensitive, 18 

Upland, 17 
Feverwort, 401, 417 
Figwort, Maryland, 380 
Filaree, 258 
Fireball, 107 
Fireweed, 294, 336, 503 
Five-finger, Common, 209 

Tall, 205 
Flat-top, 412 
Flax, False, 181 

Wild, 181 
Fleabane, Canada, 439 

Daisy, 438 

Lowground, 437 

Philadelphia, 437 
Flicker-tail, 64 
Flower, August, 530 

Blister, 159 

Butter, 159 

Chester, 207 

Cuckoo, 143 

Fall, 433 

Joseph's, 533 

Mist, 419 
Flower-of-an-Hour, 282 
Flower, Poorland, 493 

Snake, 342 
Fluellin, 383 
Foalfoot, 501 
Fool's Cicely, 303 
Fool's Parsley, 303 
Forget-me-not, Bur, 334 

Yellow, 336 
Four o'clock, Wild, 129 



Foxglove, Purple, 362 
Foxtail, Bent, 45 

Bristly, 33 

Green, 33 

Marsh, 45 

Water, 45 

Yellow, 31 
Franseria discolor, 458 

tomentosa, 459 
Franseria, White-leaved, 458 

Woolly, 459 
Froelichia floridana, 127 

Goerineria discolor, 458 

tomentosa, 459 
Gaillardia aristata, 484 
Galeopsis Tetrahit, 354 
Galingale, Low, 67 

Yellow, 70 
Galinsoga parviflora, 480 
Galium Aparine, 397 

asprellum, 398 
Gall-of-the-Earth, 553 
Garget, 128 
Garlic, Crow, 80 

Field, 80 

Hedge, 190 

Meadow, 83 

Wild, 80, 174 
Gaura, Biennial, 297 
Gaura biennis, 297 

villosa, 298 
Gaura, Woolly, 298 
Genista tinctoria, 224 
Gentian, Horse, 401 

Snake, 553 
Geranium, Feather, 110 

Mint, 494 
Geranium pusillum, 257 
Geranium, Turnpike, 110 
Germander, American, 347 
Geum album, 210 

canadense, 210 
Gifola germanica, 441 
Gilia squarrosa, 329 
Gilia, Sticky, 329 
Gill-ale, 351 

Gill-over-the-ground, 351 
Gipsy Combs, 403 
Girasole, 467 
Glycyrrhiza lepidota, 242 
Gnaphalium decurrens, 444 



INDEX 



679 



Gnaphalium obtusifolium, 443 

polycephalum, 443 

uliginosum, 445 
Goat's-beard, Purple, 533 

Virginia, 527 

Yellow, 532 
Goat's Rue, 238 
Goldcup, 159 
Golden Jerusalem, 462 
Golden Moss, 200 
Goldenrod, Bushy, 426 

Canada, 425 

Field, 423 

Fragrant, 426 

Gray, 423 

Hard-leaved, 426 

Hoary, 424 

Low, 423 

Narrow-leaved, 426 

Soft, 424 

Stiff, 426 

Tall, 425 
Gold of Pleasure, 181 
Gonolobus Icevis, 319 
Good-night-at-noon, 282 
Gooseberry, Dwarf Cape, 370 
Goosefoot, Maple-leaved, 112 

Nettle-leaved, 114 

Oak-leaved, 110 

White, 112 
Gosmore, 528 
Go-to-bed-at-noon, 532 
Gourd, Missouri, 404 

Wild, 404 
Gowan, Horse, 492 

Ling, 554 

Witch's, 535 

Yellow, 535 
Grass, Aleppo, 22 

Annual Ray, 60 

Auger-seed, 39 

Barley, 66 

Barnyard, 30 

Bear, 34 

Bermuda, 51 

Bonnet, 50 

Bottle, 33 

Bur, 34 

Canary, 37 

Candy, 54 

Cockspur, 30 

Coco, 68 



Grass, — Continued 
Couch, 61 
Crab, 26, 53 
Crow-foot, 53 
Dog, 61 

Dog's-tooth, 51 
Downy Brome, 58 
Drop-seed, 44 
Egyptian, 22 
Faitour's, 271 
False Guinea, 22 
Finger, 26 
German Knot, 133 
Goose, 53, 208, 397 
Grip, 397 
Hairy Spear, 54 
Hedgehog, 34 
Holy, 37 
Indian Rush, 47 
Johnson, 22 
Knot, 97 
Knot-root, 43 
Mat, 97 
Means, 22 
Milk, 402 
Mystery, 76 
Needle, 34, 40, 42 
Nut, 68 
Old Witch, 28 
Perennial Rye, 57 
Pigeon, 31 
Pin, 258 
Pine, 20 
Poison Rye, 60 
Porcupine, 39 
Poverty, 41, 50 
Pungent Meadow, 54 
Pussy, 31 
Quack, 61 
Quack Salver's,272 
Quitch, 61 
Ray, 59 
Rib, 392 
Rice Cut, 35 
Ripple, 392 
Sand, 42 
Scratch, 397 
Scurvy, 197 
Scutch, 51, 61 
Sedge, 21 
Seneca, 37 
Sheathed Rush, 46 



580 



INDEX 



Grass, — Continued 

Slender Meadow, 54 

Small Crab, 27 

Small Rush, 47 

Smut, 47 

Snake, 20, 54 

Sour, 95, 255 

Sprouting Panic, 29 

Stink, 54 

Summer, 31 

Sweet, 37 

Switch, 30 

Syrian, 22 

Tickle, 28, 64 

Tine, 247 

Tongue, 176 

Tufted Spear, 54 

Tumbleweed, 28 

Twitch, 61 

Vanilla, 37 

Virginia Beard, 21 

Wart, 272 

Weather, 39 

Wheat, 61 

Wildcat, 50 

Wild Oat, 50 

Willard's Brome, 55 

Wire, 44, 50, 53, 74 

Wood, 43 

Yard, 53 

Yellow Nut, 70 
Graymile, 340 
Grim-the-CoUier, 554 
Grindelia lanceolata, 421 

squarrosa, 420 
Grinsel,'504 
Gromwell, Common, 340 

Corn, 339 

Field, 339 

Gray, 341 
Ground Bur-nut, 259 
Ground-cherry, Low Hairy, 370 

Mexican, 369 

Prairie, 371 

Virginia, 371 
Ground-hele, 383 
Groundsel, Common, 504 

Cress-leaved, 505 
Grundy Swallow, 507 
Gumbo, 283 
Gum-plant, Broad-leaved, 420 

Narrow-leaved, 421 



Gum-weed, 420 
Gut-weed, 537 

Hardhack, 204 
Yellow, 207 
Hardheads, 521 
Hardock, 508 
Harvest Lice, 475 
Hawkbit, Autumn, 530 
Hawksbeard, Narrow-leaved, 550 

Rough, 550 

Smooth, 549 
Hawkweed, Field, 556 

Hairy, 557 

Mouse-ear, 554 

Orange, 554 
Heal-all, 352, 380 
Heart-of-the-Earth, 352 
Heartweed, 102 
Hedeoma pulegioides, 358 
Hedge-burs, 397 
Hedge Taper, 377 
Helenium autumnale, 481 

nudiflorum, 482 

tenufolium, 483 
Helimithus annuus, 465 

scaberrimus, 466 

tuberosus, 467 
Heliotrope, Indian, 331 
Heliotropium indicum, 331 
Hellbind, 324 
Hellebore, American, 78 

False, 78 

Green, 78 

Swamp, 78 
Hellroot, 389 
Hemlock, Deadly, 300 

Poison, 300 

Water, 301 
Hemp, 86 

American, 314 

Bastard, 354 

Black Indian, 315 

Water, 125 

Wild, 354, 454 
Henbane, Black, 373 
Henbit, 355 

Heracleum lanatiim, 306 
Herb, Balsam, 494 

Barbara's, 196 

Carpenter's, 346, 352 

Felon, 496, 554 



INDEX 



581 



Herb, — Continued 

Fuller's, 149 

Healing, 337 

Holy, 343 

Sherard, 396 

Viper's, 342 
Herba Impia, 441 
Herb-bane, 389 
Herb-of-St. Bennet, 300 
Herb-of-St. John, 2S4 
Herb-of-the-Cross, 343 
Heron's-bill, 258 
Herrick, 184 
Hibiscus esculentus, 283 

Trionum, 282 
Hieracium aurantiacum, 554 

florenfinum, 558 

floribundum, 558 

Gronovii, 557 

Pilosella, 554 

pratense, 557 
Hierochloa odorata, 37 
Highwater Shrub, 451 
Hoarwort, 441 
Hock-heal, 352 
Hog's Bean, 373 
Hogweed, 132 
Hogwort, 261 
Honeybloom, 312 
Honeylotus, 232 
Honeysuckle, Ground, 237 
Hordeum jubatum, 64 

murinam, 66 

pusillum, 65 
Horehound, 349 

Ditch, 360 

Virginia, 360 

Water, 360 
Horse Cane, 454 
Horse Elder, 446 
Horse Gowan, 492 
Horse Nettle, 365 
Horse Sorrel, 95 
Horse Thyme, 359 
Horse-heal, 446 
Horse-hoof, 501 
Horse-knobs, 521 
Horsetail, Field, 20 
Horseweed, 439, 454, 543 
Houndsbene, 349 
Hound's Berry, 364 
Hound's Tongue, 332 



Hurr-bur, 508 
Hurtsickle, 520 
Hyoscyamus niger, 373 
Hypericum mutilum, 285 

perforatum, 284 

prolificum, 285 
Hyjiochceris radicata, 528 
Hyssop, Wild, 344 

Impudent Lawyer, 379 
Indian cup, 449 
Indian Eleusine, 53 
Indian Fig, 288 
Indian Physic, 314 
Indian Poke, 78 
Ink Berry, 128 
Inida Helenium, 446 
Ipecac, Milk, 312 

Wild, 401 
Ipomoea pandurata, 320 
Iresine paniculata, 126 
Ironweed, Illinois, 414 

Tall, 412 

Western, 413 

Winged, 468 

Yellow, 468 
Isnardia palustris, 293 
Itchweed, 78 
Iva axillaris, 453 

ciliata, 450 

xanthifolia, 451 
Ivray, 60 
Ivy, Ground, 351 

Poison, 274 

Three-leaved, 274 

Jack-by-the-hedge, 190 
Jacob's Staff, 377 
Jatropha stimulosa, 260 
Jerusalem, Golden, 462 
Jerusalem Oak, 110 
Jerusalem Star, 533 
Joe-Pye Weed, 416 
Juba's Bush, 126 
J uncus effusus, 75 

tenuis, 74 
Jute, American, 276 

Kale, Field, 184 
Kalmia angustifolia, 308 
Kedluck, 184 
Kill-wart, 169 



582 



INDEX 



Kingcup, 159 
King Devil, 556 
Kinghead, 454 
Klinkweed, 189 
Knapweed, Black, 521 

Brown, 521 

Rayed, 521 
Knawel, 133 
Kneijffia fruticosa, 296 
Knight's Spur, 161 
Knit-back, 337 
Knotgrass, German, 133 
Knotweed, 98 

Biting, 101 

Bushy, 98 

Erect, 98 

Prostrate, 97 

Spotted, 102 
Kochia scoparia, 107 
Krigia ample xicaulus, 527 

virginica, 527 
Kuhnia eupatorioides, 419 

Lactuca canadensis, 542 

pulchellus, 544 

sagittifolia, 543 
• scariola, 540 

spicata, 546 

villosa, 545 
Lady-by-the-gate, 149 
Lady-fingers, 382 
Lady's Thumb, 102 
Lambkill, 308 
Lamb's Lettuce, 402 
Lamb's Quarters, 112 
Lamium amplexicaule, 355 
Lappula echinafa, 334 

floribunda, 335 

virginica, 334 
Lapsana communis, 523 
Larkheel, 161 
Larkspur, Azure-flowered, 163 

Carolina, 163 

Dwarf, 162 

Field, 161 

Large, 164 

Purple, 165 

Sky-blue, 163 

Small, 166 

Smooth, 164 

Tall Mountain, 164 

Western, 167 



Lathyrus latifolius, 250 

pratensis, 252 

tuberosus, 250 
Laurel, Dwarf, 308 

Narrow-leaved, 308 

Sheep, 308 
Leersia oryzoides, 35 
Legouzia perfoliata, 408 
Leontodon autumnalis, 530 
Leonurus Cardiaca, 356 
Lepachys columnaris, 464 
Lepidium apetalum, 178 

campestre, 178 

virginicum,, 176 
Lespedeza violacia, 245 
Lettuce, Arrow-leaved, 543 

Blue, 544 

Hairy-veined, 545 

Hare's, 538 

Prickly, 540 

Rough White, 552 

Showy, 544 

Smooth White, 551 

Tall Blue, 546 

Wild, 542 
Lily, Hedge, 323 

Jamestown, 375 
Linaria vulgaris, 379 
Lion's-ear, 356 
Lion's-foot, 553 
Lion's-tail, 356 
Lion's-tooth, 530 
Liquorice, Wild, 242 
Lithospermujn arvense, 339 

canescens, 341 

officinale, 340 
Littlegood, 272 
Littlewale, 340 
Live-forever, 201, 202 
Live-long, 202 
Lobelia, Great, 410 
Lobelia infiata, 411 

syphilitica, 410 
Loco, Purple, 239 

Stemless, 241 

Stemmed, 239 

Texas, 239 
Loco-vetch, Colorado, 241 
Loco-weed, White, 241 

Woolly, 239 
Loggerheads, 521 
Lolium perenne, 59 



INDEX 



583 



Lolium temulentum, 60 
London Pride, 149 
Loosestrife, Clammy, 291 

False, 293 
Lotus corniculatus, 237 
Ludvigia alternifolia, 292 

palustris, 293 
Lupine, Low, 229 

Nebraska, 226 

Silvery, 228 

Wild, 225 
Lupinus argenteus, 228 

perennis, 225 

plattensis, 226 

pusillus, 229 
Lychnis alba, 145 

dioica, 144 
Lychnis, Evening, 145 
Lychnis Flos-cuculi, 143 

Githago, 142 

vespertina, 145 
Lycopsis arvensis, 388 
Lycopus virginicus, 360 
Lygodesinia juncea, 546 
Lygodesmia, Rush-like, 546 
Lyonia mariana, 310 

Macrocalyx Nyctelea, 330 
Madder, Blue Field, 396 
Madia sativa, 479 
Madnep, 305 
Mallow, Common, 280 

Dwarf, 280 

Indian, 276 

Musk, 281 

Red False, 277 

Running, 280 

Thistle, 278 

Venice, 282 
Malva moschata, 281 

rotundifolia, 280 
Malvastrum coccineum, 277 
Mamillaria missouriensis, 291 

vivipara, 290 
Man-of-the-Earth, 320 
Mare's-tail, 439 
Marigold, Bur, 473 

Fetid, 485 

Nodding Bur, 476 
Markweed, 274 
Marrube, 349 
Marrubium vulgare, 349 



Marsh Elder, Burweed, 451 

Rough, 450 

Small-flowered, 453 
Marvel, 349 
Masterwort, 306 
Matricaria Chamomilla, 492 

inodora, 491 
Matricaria matricarioides, 492 

suaveolens, 492 
Matweed, Spotted, 266 
Maul, 280 
May-pop, 287 
Mayweed, 488 

Corn, 491 

False, 485 

Yellow, 485 
Meadow Queen, 203 
Meadow-sweet, 203 

Willow-leaved, 204 

Woolly, 204 
Mecha-Meck, 320 
Medicago deJiticulata, 235 

hispida, 235 

lupulina, 234 
Medick, Black, 234 

Hop, 234 

Toothed, 235 

Winter, 235 
Meibornia canadensis, 244 

canescens, 243 
Melanthium virginicum, 77 
Melilot, White, 232 

Yellow, 234 
Melilotus alba, 232 

officinalis, 234 

Mentha piperita, 361 

spicata, 362 
Mercury, Black, 274 

Scotch, 382 

Three-seeded, 262 
Micrampelis lobata, 406 
Milfoil, 486 
Milk, Mouse, 272 

Wolf's, 272 
Milkweed, Climbing, 319 

Common, 317 

Orange, 315 

Poison, 268 

Showy, 317 

Swamp, 316 

Trumpet, 542 



584 



INDEX 



Milkweed, — Continued 

Wandering, 312 

White-flowered, 268 
Milk Witch, 535 
Millet, Arabian, 22 

Evergreen, 22 

Morocco, 22 

Polish, 26 

Wild, 31 
Mint, Brandy, 361 

Garden, 362 

Lamb, 361, 362 

Mackerel, 362 

Our Lady's, 362 

Pepper, 361 

Spear, 362 

Squaw, 358 
Mollugo verticillata, 135 
Moon-penny, 493 

Morning Glory, Small-flowered, 321 
Morning Sun, 532 
Moss, Golden, 200 
Mother's Hearts, 180 
Motherwort, 356 
Mouse-ear, 445 
Mugwort, Common, 496 
Muhlenbergia diffusa, 44 

mexicana, 43 

Schreberi, 44 
Mullein, Common, 377 

Moth, 378 
Mustard, Ball, 182 

Black, 187 

GarHc, 190 

Gray Tansy, 194 

Green Tansy, 194 

Hare's-ear, 189 

Hedge, 191 

Indian, 185 

Mithridate, 178 

Stinking, 174 

Treacle, 195 

Tumbling, 192 

White, 186 

Wild, 184 

Wormseed, 195 
Myzorrhiza ludoviciana, 390 

Nabalus asper, 552 

racemosus, 551 

serpentarius, 553 
Nap-at-noon, 532 



Navarretia squarrosa, 329 
Neckweed, 385 
Needle-and-thread, 40 
Needles, Spanish, 477 
Nepeta cataria, 250" ^ t5~ A 

hederacea, 254- ^ 

Neslia paniculata, 182 ^ v> / 
Nettle, Bee, 354, 355 

Bhnd, 355 

Bull, 260, 365 

Dead,- 355, 357 

Dog, 354 

False, 90 

Great, 88 

Hedge, 357 

Horse, 365 

Slender, 87 

Spurge, 260 

Stinging, 88, 354 

Western, 89 

White Horse, 367 
Nicandra Physalodes, 373 
Niggerhead, 462 
Nightshade, Beaked, 368 

Bitter-sweet, 363 

Black, 364 

Common, 364 

Deadly, 364 

Fetid, 373 

Prickly, 367 

Silver-leaved, 367 

Woody, 363 
Nimble Kate, 405 
Nimble Will, 44 
Nipplewort, 523 

Dwarf, 524 
None-such, 234 
Noon-flower, 532 
Nyctelea, 330 

Oats, Wild, 48 
(Enothera biennis, 295 

fruticosa, 296 
Okra, 283 
Old Fog, 50 

Old Maid's Bonnets, 225 
Old Maid's Pink, 149 
Old Man's Hands, 288 
Onagra biennis, 295 
Onion, Wfld, 80 
Onoclea sensibilis, 18 
Onopordum Acanthium, 516 



INDEX 



585 



Opium, Wild, 542 
Opuntia fragilis, 287 

humifusa, 288 

Rafinesque, 288 
Orache, Spreading, 114 
Orobanche ludoviciana, 390 

minor, 389 

ramosa, 387 
Orpine, Biting, 200 

Common, 202 
Owl's Crown, 441 
Oxalis corniculata, 256 

stricta, 255 
Ox-tongue, Bristly, 531 
Oxwort, 502 
Oxybaphus hirsutus, 130 

linearis, 131 

nyctagineus, 129 
Oxytropis Lamberti, 241 
Oyster, Vegetable, 533 

Painted Leaf, 270 
Panicum capillare, 28 

crus-galli, 30 

dichotomiflorum, 29 

proliferum, 29 

virgatum, 30 
Papaver dubium, 171 

i2/iceas, 170 
Parsley, Dog's, 303 

False, 303 

Fool's, 303 

Spotted, 300 
Parsnip, Cow, 306 

Field, 305 

Meadow, 304 

Wild, 305 

Woolly, 306 
Parsonia petiolata, 291 
Passiflora incarnata, 287 
Passion-flower, 287 
Passion-vine, 287 
Pastinaca sativa, 305 
Paul's Betony, 360, 383 
Pea, 222, 225 

Blue, 228, 229 

Everlasting, 250 

Hoary, 238 

Large-flowered Sensitive, 221 

Meadow, 252 

Partridge, 221 

Tuberous WUd, 250 



Pea, — Continued 

Turkey, 238 
Peas, Cat, 247 

Craw, 252 

Mouse, 252 
Pellitory, Wild, 487 
Pennyroyal, American, 358 

Bastard, 358 

Mock, 358 
Pentstemon Icevigatus, 381 
Pepper, Bird's, 176 

Poor Man's, 178 

Wall, 200 
Peppergrass, Common, 176 

Field, 178 

Green-flowered, 178 
Peppermint, 361 
Persicary, Glandular, 100 

Peach-leaved, 102 
Pctasites palmatus, 502 

vulgatus, 502 
Phalaris canariensis, 37 
Physalis ixocarpa, 369 

lanceolata, 371 

pubesccns, 370 

virginiana, 371 
Phytolacca decandra, 128 
Pick-purse, 136 
Picris, Bugloss, 531 
Picris echoides, 531 
Pieris mariana, 310 
Pigweed, Matted, 123 

Prostrate, 123 

Redroot, 120 

Rough, 120 

Russian, 119 

Smooth, 112 

Tumbling, 122 

White, 122 

Winged, 106 
Pilewort, 380, 503 
Pimpernel, Scarlet, 311 
Pine, Meadow, 20 
Pinetop, 20 
Pink, Hedge, 149 
Meadow, 143 
Mullein, 142 
Plant, Compass, 447, 540 
Cruel, 270 
Cup, 449 
Enchanter's, 343 
Fever, 295 



586 



INDEX 



Plant, — Continued 

Ginger, 495 

Mosquito, 358 

Oyster, 533 

Paint, 341 

Pearl, 340 

Polar, 447 

Purse, 202 

Rosin, 448 

Shirt-button, 280 

Shoofly, 282 

Sweating, 417 

Umbrella, 129 

Yellow Locust, 218 
Plantago arenaria, 396 

aristata, 394 

lanceolata, 392 

major, 391 

media, 394 

Rugelli, 392 
Plantain, Birdseed, 391 

Black, 392 

Broad-leaved, 391 

Common, 391 

Dooryard, 391 

Hoary, 394 

Large-bracted, 394 

Narrow-leaved, 392 

Pale, 392 

Red-stem, 392 

Robin's, 436 

Rugel's, 392 

Sandwort, 393 

White, 441 

Whorled, 396 

Woolly, 394 
Plume-seed, 419 
Poinsettia heterophylla, 270 
Poison, Beaver, 301 

Dog, 303 

Sheep, 308 
Poison Ash, 273 
Poison Creeper, 274 
Poison Dogwood, 273 
Poison Elder, 273 
Poison Ivy, 274 
Poison Oak, 274 
Poison Rhubarb, 502 
Poison Sego, 76 
Poison Stinkweed, 300 
Poison Sumac, 273 
Poisonweed, 311 



Pokeberry, 128 
Poke, Virginia, 128 
Pokeweed, 128 
Polanisia graveolens, 198 
Polygonum aviculare, 97 

convolvulus, 104 

emersum, 99 

erectum, 98 

Hydropiper, 101 

hydropiperoides, 102 

Muhlenbergii, 99 

pennsylvanicum, 100 

Persicaria, 102 

ramosissimum, 98 

scandens, 105 
Poorland Flower, 493 
Poor-man's Weather-glass, 311 
Poor Robin, 436 
Pop-dock, 382 
Poppy, Bubble, 148 

Corn, 170 

Field, 170 

Long Smooth-fruited, 171 

Mexican, 172 

Prickly, 172 

Thistle, 172 
Portulaca oleracea, 152 
Portulaca, Wild, 152 
Potato, Canada, 467 

Hog's, 76 
Potentilla Anserina, 208 

argentea, 206 

canadensis, 209 

fruticosa, 207 

monspeliensis, 205 
Prenanthes aspera, 552 

racemosa, 551 

serpentaria, 553 
Prickly Pear, 287 

Brittle, 288 
Pricket, 200 
Primrose, Day, 296 

Evening, 295 

Field, 295 

Perennial, 296 

Tree, 295 
Prunella vidgaris, 352 
Prunus serotina, 217 

virginiana, 218 
Pteris aquilina, 17 
Puccoon, Hoary, 341 
Pudding-bags, 202 



INDEX 



587 



Pumpkin, Fetid Wild, 404 
Purplehead, 100 
Purse, Shepherd's, 180 
Purslane, 152 

Ditch, 293 

Milk, 266 

Water, 293 

Winter, 385 
Pusley, 152 
Pussy-toes, 441 
Pyrrhopappus carolinianus, 548 

Quaker Lady, 203 
Queen Anne's Lace, 307 
Queen-of-the-meadow, 416 

Rabbit-ears, 189 
Radish, Wild, 183 
Ragged Cup, 449 
Ragged Robin, 143, 520 
Ragweed, Bur, 458 

Common, 455 

False, 451 

Giant, 454 

Great, 454 

Perennial, 457 
Ragwort, Common, 506 

Golden, 507 

Tansy, 506 
Ranstead, 379 
Ranunculus abortivus, 155 

acris, 159 

bulbosus, 157 

fascicularis, 156 

repens, 156 

sceleratus, 154 
Raphanus Raphanistrum, 183 
Ratibida columnaris, 464 
Rattlebox, 222, 292 
Rattleweed, White, 241 
Redroot, 339 
Redshanks, 102 
Redstalk, 435 
Redstem, 291 
Redweed, 128, 170 
Rhus radicans, 274 

Toxicodendron, 274 

Vernix, 273 
Ribwort, 392 

Grav, 394 
Rocket, Sand, 188 

Yellow, 196 



Root, Amy, 314 

Bitter, 312 

Bowman's, 314 

Choctaw, 314 

Devil's, 389 

Dropsy, 314 

Emetic, 411 

Gag, 411 

Ginger, 501 

Gravel, 416 

Insane, 373 

Kidney, 416 

Life, 507 

Musquash, 301 

Orange, 315 

Pleurisy, 315 

Rattlesnake, 553 

Slippery, 337 

White, 315 
Rosa arkansana, 216 

eglanteria, 214 

rubiginosa, 214 
Rose, Canker, 170 

Corn, 142 

Cotton, 441 

Prairie, 216 

Running Brier, 216 
Rosemary, White, 432 
Rose Petty, 436 
Rotation of crops, 5 
Rubus procumbens, 211 

villosus, 211 
Rudbeckia hirta, 462 
Ruddy-stem, 435 
Rumex Acetosa, 94 

Acetosella, 95 

crispus, 91 

mexicanus, 93 

obtusifoUa, 94 

Patientia, 90 
Rush, Bog, 75 

Club, 73 

Common, 75 

Field, 74 

Green Foxtail, 20 

Meadow, 73 

Slender, 74 

Soft, 75 

Yard, 74 
Rutland Beauty, 323 

Sage-of-Bethlehem, 362 



588 



INDEX 



Sage, Mountain, 500 

Pasture, 499 

Wild, 499 

Wood, 347 

Wormwood, 499 
Sage-brush, 500 
Sage-bush, 500 

Low, 499 
Sage-wood, 500 
St. Jameswort, 506 
St. John's-wort, 284 

Dwarf, 286 

Shrubby, 285 
Salsify, Garden, 533 

Meadow, 532 
Salsola Kali, 117 
Sandbur, 34 
Sandspur, 34 
Sandweed, 136 
Sandwort, 396 

Thyme-leaved, 137 
Sanguinary, 486 
Sanicle, 299, 418 
Sanicula canadensis, 299 

marilandica, 300 
Saponaria officinalis, 149 

Vaccaria, 151 
Sarsaparilla, False, 83 
Satureja vulgaris, 359 
Sauce-alone, 190 
Savastana odorata, 27 
Scabious, Sweet, 438 
Scabish, Meadow, 435 
Scabwort, 446 
Scirpus atrovirens, 73 
Scleranthus annuus, 133 
Scoke, 128 
Scourwort, 149 
Scrophularia leporella, 381 

marilandica, 380 
Scrub-bush, 432 
Sedge, Broom, 21 

Coco, 68 

Nut, 68 
Sedum acre, 200 

pur pur cum, 202 

stoloniferum, 201 

Telepheum, 202 
Seed-box, 292 
Self-heal, 352 
Senebiera didyma, 179 
Senecio aureus, 507 



Senecio Jacobcea, 506 

glabellus, 505 

lobatus, 505 

vulgaris, 504 
Senna, American, 218 

Coffee, 220 

Wild, 218 
Setaria glauca, 31 

verticillaia, 33 

viridis, 33 
Sheepbur, Western, 335 
Sheepfoot, 237 
Sheepkill, 310 
Sheep Poison, 255 
Shepherd's Clock, 311 
Shepherd's Purse, 180 
Sherardia arvensis, 396 
Sicklewort, 346, 352 
Sicyos angulatus, 405 
Sida acuta, 279 

spinosa, 278 

stipulata, 279 
Sida, Spiny, 278 

Prickly, 278 
Silene antirrhina, 146 

dichotoma, 147 

inflata, 148 

latifolia, 148 

nocti flora, 147 
Silphium laciniaium, 447 

perforatum, 449 

terebinthinaceum, 448 
Simpler's Joy, 343, 344 
Simson, 504 
Sinapis alba, 186 

nigra, 187 
Sisymbrium altissimum, 192 

incisum, 194 

officinale, 191 
Sitilins caroliniana, 548 
Skellick, 184 
Skevish, 437 
Skunk-tail, 64 
Smartweed, Common, 101 

Pennsylvania, 100 

Spotted, 102 

Swamp, 99 
Smilax glauca, 83 
Snakeroot, Black, 299 

White, 418 
Snapdragon, Wild, 379 
Sneezeweed, 481 



INDEX 



589 



Sneezeweed, Fine-leaved, 483 

Purple-headed, 482 

White, 487 
Sneezewort, 481 
Snow-on-the-mountain, 267 
Soapwort, 149 
Solanum carolinense, 365 

Dulcamara, 363 

eloeagnifolium, 367 
Solanum nigrum,, 364 

rostratum,, 368 
Solidago canadensis, 425 

graminifolia, 426 

mollis, 424 

nemoralis, 423 

rigida, 426 
Sonchus arvensis, 537 

asper, 539 

oleraceus, 538 
Sorghum halepense, 22 
Sorrel, Field, 95 

Garden, 94 

Horse, 95 

Lady's, 256 

Redtop, 95 

Sheep, 95, 255 

Tall, 94 
Sowbane, 114 
Sow Thistle, Common, 538 

Corn, 537 

Creeping, 537 

Field, 537 

Spiny-leaved, 539 
Spatling, 148 
Spearmint, 362 
Speckled John, 284 
Specularia perfoliata, 408 
Speedwell, Common, 383 

Corn, 386 

Field, 387 

Garden, 387 

Purslane, 385 

Thyme-leaved, 385 
Upland, 383 
Spergula arvensis, 136 
Spermacoce glabra, 399 
Spinach, Strawberry, 110 
Spircea latifolia, 203 
salicifolia, 204 
tomentosa, 204 
Sporoholus indicus, 47 
neglectus, 47 



Sporoholus vaginiflorus, 46 
Spurge, Creeping, 266 

Cypress, 272 

Flowering, 268 

Hairy, 265 

Leafy, 271 

Pasture, 264 

Spotted, 266 

Stubble, 264 

Sun, 272 

Thyme-leaved, 263 

Toothed, 269 

Upright Spotted, 264 

Various-leaved, 270 

White-margined, 267 
Spurry, 136 
Spurwort, 396 
Squirrel-tail, 64 
Stachys palustris, 357 
Stagger Bush, 310 
Stagger Weed, 162 
Staggerwort, 506 
Stammerwort, 455 
Star Thistle, Purple, 517 

Yellow, 518 
Starwort, 139 

Grassy, 138 

Yellow, 446 
Steeple-bush, 204 
Stellaria graminea, 138 

media, 139 
Stickseed, European, 334 

Large-flowered, 335 

Many-flowered, 336 

Purple-stemmed, 375 

Virginia, 334 

Western, 335 
Sticktight, 473 
Sticky-stem, 291 
Stinkweed, 488 
Stinking Willie, 506 
Stipa comata, 40 

spartea 39 
Stipa, Western, 40 
Stitchwort, Grass-leaved, 138 

Lesser, 138 
Stonecrop, Mossy, 200 
Stork's-biU, 258 
Strophostyles helvola, 253 
pauciflora, 254 

umbellata, 254 
Succory, 525 



590 



INDEX 



Succory, Gum, 534 

Hog's, 524 

Lamb, 524 
Sumac, Poison, 273 

Swamp, 273 
Sundial, 225 
Sundrops, 296 
Sunflower, Brook, 476 

Common, 465 

False, 451, 481 

Red, 463 

Stiff, 466 

Swamp, 481 

Tickseed, 478 

Tuberous, 467 
Swallow-wort, 169, 315 

Black, 319 

White, 319 
Sweet Betty, 149 
Sweet-brier, 214 
Sweet-clover, White, 232 

Yellow, 234 
Sweethearts, 397 
Sweetpea, Tuberous, 250 

Wild, 238 
Sweetroot, 242 
Sweet William, Wild, 149 
Swine's-bane, 114 
Symphytum officinale, 337 
Syntherisma sanguinalis, 26 

linearis, 27 

Tanacetum vulgare, 495 
Tank, 305 
Tansy, 495 

False, 497 

Goose, 208 

White, 487 

Wild, 455 
Taraxacum erythrospermum, 537 

officinale, 536 
Tare, 246 

Hairy, 249 
Tar-fitch, 252 
Tarweed, 291, 479 

Yellow, 336 
Tea, Jerusalem, 108 

Jesuit, 108 

Mexican, 108 

Spanish, 108 
Teasel, 403 
Tephrosia virginiana, 238 



Tetterwort, 169 
Teucrium, canadense, 347 
Thaspium aureum, 304 
Thimbleweed, 160 
Thistle, Asses', 516 

Bitter, 522 

Blessed, 522 

Blue, 342 

Bull, 365, 512 

Bur, 510 

Canada, 514 

Card, 403 

Common, 510 

Cotton, 516 

Creeping, 514 

Cursed, 514 

Downy, 516 

English, 540 

Fragrant, 512 

Holy, 522 

Horse, 512 

Lance-leaved, 510 

Maltese, 519 

Mexican, 368 

Milk, 537, 538, 540 

Napa, 519 

Our Lady's, 522 

Pasture, 512 

Perennial, 514 

Plume, 512 

Queen Mary's, 516 

Roadside, 512 

Russian, 117 

St. Barnaby's, 518 

St. Benedict's, 522 

Scotch, 516 

Silver, 516 

Spear, 510 

Spotted, 522 

Swine, 537 

Tall, 512 

Texas, 368 

Tumbling, 117 

Water, 403 

Yellow-spined, 513 
Thlaspi arvense, 174 
Thorn, Maize, 517 
Thornapple, 375 

Hairy, 376 

Purple, 376 
Thoroughwort, 417 
Thousand-leaf, 486 



INDEX 



;9i 



Thunderwood, 273 
Ticks, Seed, 243 

Wool, 243 
Tickseed, Lance-leaved, 471 

Tall, 472 
Tick-trefoil, Hoary, 243 

Showy, 244 
Timothy, False, 45 
Tiniaria scandens, 105 
Tithymal, 271 
Titters, 247 
Toadflax, 379 
Tobacco, Indian, 411 

Ladies', 441 

Sailor's, 496 

Wild, 411 
Tocalote, 519 
Tomatillo, 369 
Tomato, Husk, 370 

Strawberry, 369 
Tragopogon porrifolius, 533 

pratensis, 532 
Tread-softly, 260, 365 
Trefoil, Bird's-foot, 237 

Yellow, 234 
Trihulus terrestris, 259 
Trichostema dichotomum, 348 
Trifolium agrarium, 231 

arvense, 229 

procumbens, 231 
Triosteum perfoliatum, 401 
Trompillo, 367 
Tumbleweed, 122 

Russian, 117 
Turkey-strip, 50 
Tussilago Farfara, 501 

Umbrella Leaves, 502 
Umbrella-wort, Hairy, 130 

Heart-leaved, 129 

Narrow-leaved, 131 
Urtica dioica, 88 

gracilis, 87 

holosericea, 89 

Valerian, False, 507 
Valerianella Locusta, 402 

radiata, 402 
Velvet-leaf, 276 
Venus's 'Looking-glass, 408 
Veratrum viride, 78 
Verbascum Blattaria, 378 



Verbascum Thapsus, 377 
Verbena bracteosa, 345 

hastata, 344 

officinalis, 343 

stricta, 346 

urticoefolia, 343 
Verbesina alternifolia, 468 

encelioides, 470 

helianthoides, 469 
Vernonia altissima, 412 

fasciculate, 413 

gigantea, 412 

illinoensis, 414 

maxima, 412 
Veronica agrestis, 387 

officinalis, 383 

peregrina, 385 

serpyllifolia, 385 
Vervain, Blue, 344 

European, 343 

Hoary, 346 

Large-bracted, 345 

Mullein-leaved, 346 

Nettle-leaved, 346 

W^hite, 343 

Woolly, 346 
Vetch, Bird, 247 

Blue, 247 

Common, 246 

Cow, 247 

Hairy, 249 

Pebble, 246 

Spring, 246 

Tufted, 247 

Winter, 249 
Vetchling, Yellow, 253 
Vicia Cracca, 247 

saliva, 246 

villosa, 249 
Vincetoxicum nigrum, 319 
Vine, Love, 324 

Sand, 319 

Wnd Sweet Potato, 320 

Wartwort, 445 
Water-pepper, 101 

Mild, 102 
Waxballs, 262 
Waybent, 66 
Waybread, 391 
Weed, Ague, 417 

Asthma, 411 



592 



INDEX 



Weed, — Continued 
Basil, 359 
Bird, 139 
Bird's Nest, 307 
Bitter, 439, 455, 497 
Blue, 342 
Blue Wax, 291 
Bugle, 360 
Bur, 334 
Butter, 505 
Butterfly, 315 
Canker, 506, 553 
Carrot, 455 
Chicken, 504 
Choke, 389 
Clammy, 198 
Cotton, 317 
Crazy, 239 
Crown, 454 
Dagger, 460 
Door, 97 
Downy, 441 
Dyer's, 423 
Dyer's Green, 224 
Fever, 416 
Flat, 528 
Flax, 379 
French, 174 
Frost, 432 
Hair, 324 
Halfbreed, 451 
Heart, 102 
Hog, 132, 439 
Horse, 439, 454, 543 
Jamestown or Jimson, 375 
Mark, 274 
Meal, 112 
Muskrat, 301 
Naked, 534 
Neck, 385 
Nosebleed, 586 
Pepper, 329 
Pigeon, 339 
Pilot, 449 
Pin, 258 
Pineapple, 492 
Pitchfork, 473 
Poverty, 433, 493 
Prairie, 207 
Prickly Careless, 124 
Pride, 439 
Puke, 411 



Weed, — Continued 

Rattle, 222 

Red River, 451 

Rheumatism, 314 

Rosin, 447 

Rough, 357 

St. James, 180 

Silk, 317 

Silver, 208 

Skeleton, 534 

Skunk, 329 

Slobber, 264 

Soldier, 124 

Sour, 95 

Squaw, 507 

Star, 139 

Steel, 432 

Stink, 174, 199, 329, 375, 485 

Strangle, 324 

Sun, 272 

Swan, 435 

Tick, 358 

Tinker's, 401 

Tobacco, 415 

Turpentine, 447 

Wart, 169, 272 

Winter, 139, 387 
Wheat-thief, 55, 339 
Whickens, 61 
Whin, Dyer's, 224 
White Bottle, 148 
White-top, 438 

Slender, 439 
Whiteweed, 493 

Tall, 438 
Wicky, 308 
Willow-herb, Great, 294 

Night, 295 

Spiked, 294 
Wingstem, 468 
Wink-a-peep, 311 
Witch's Hair, 28 
Woad-waxen, 224 
Wode Whistle, 300 
Wood-sorrel, Upright, 255 

Yellow, 255 
Woolmat, 332 
Wormseed, 109 
Wormwood, 498 

Annual, 497 

Biennial, 497 

Roman, 455 



INDEX 



593 



Woundwort, Marsh, 357 
Soldier's, 486 

Xanthium canadense, 461 

spinosum, 460 
Xanthoxalis corniculata, 256 

strida, 255 
Ximenesia encelioides, 470 
Xylorhiza Parryi, 439 



Yarrow, 486 

Sneezewort, 489 
Yellow-seed, 178 
Yellow Star, 481 
Yellowweed, Creeping, 426 

Tall, 425 
Yerba Mansa, 85 

Zygadenus venenosus, 76 



2q 



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